Drones on the QEII Class Cariiers ??

[Arclite01]

With a large empty flight deck and a delay in the in service date of the F-35 which leaves the QEII Class carriers with no fixed wing capabilities (sorry a 'Capability Holiday' for FW Ops) I was wondering about the feasibility of actually basing Drones on these as a way of giving them an offensive FW capability more quickly in service - even as a 'stop gap'

On the face of it it would appear possible:

1. Small wingspan so can be kept below decks via the lifts
2. Short take off run or maybe basic catapult launch
3. Long Ranged
4. Able to carry out PR and/or strategic recon
5. Can be armed for strike
6. Could be operated by ship based operators or remote based operators
7. Cheaper than fixed wing F-35 alternatives
8. No Cat & Trap required for recovery
9. Can co-habit with rotary wing Ops
10. Cheaper than F-35 alternative for strike Ops
11. Could undertake MR role to some degree ?
12. Expendable ?

Or am I being just a bit simplistic ?, I realise the Drones cannot undertake the AD requirement. I am sure the brains in the MoD have already considered and dismissed the idea but what do people here think ?

Thoughts ?

Arc

[orgASMic]

I am sure someone is working on it, but let's see if SCANEAGLE works first, eh?

ScanEagle System ? Insitu (http://www.insitu.com/systems/scaneagle)

[Arclite01]

Interesting and very cheap.

I had in mind Reaper or Global Hawk.............

But then I'm a 'Bentley' sort of person................ (even though I drive a Micra)

Arc

[Fortissimo]

"Drones" is a separate argument, but the sort of platform you envisage is unlikely to have a short wingspan or it would lack range and even something Reaper-size would need cat/trap to operate safely. If you want a platform capable of doing MR, ISTAR or any sort of kinetic ops instead of F35, then you would not go for a disposable/expendable system - the cost of the capability means you simply can't afford to throw it away other than in extremis (eg Hurricanes operating from carriers in WW2). 'Combat capable' UAVs cost millions.

[AGS Man]

Fortissimo
Mobile lightweight cat and trap systems are available for drones so they wouldn't need to be a permanent fixture and after use on the Carrier they could be used for short field drone ops.

[muppetofthenorth]

'Combat capable' UAVs cost millions.

Perhaps so, but 'millions' is far more palatable than the 'hundreds of millions' that the traditional combat ac are costing.

[Arclite01]

They could be called 'Drone Carriers'

Mind you the Drone is an Aircraft so I guess they are still technically 'Aircraft Carriers'

I'll get my hat and coat and try not to let the door hit my ar$e on the way out :)

Arc

[anotherthing]

There will be plenty of drones on the new carrier(s).



They're called Seaman Officers :p

[Cows getting bigger]

I thought we got rid of drones when the Harriers were sold on. :)

[vascodegama]

I thought they were QE Carriers not QEII.

[Jet In Vitro]

:uhoh:I thought the idea of a carrier was to deploy military capability to where there was no HNS or we chose not to use it without HNS. The choice of the F35 as the teeth of the platform has effectively restricted the carriers to literal operations where it is extremely vulnerable to attack. We need to bin these financial drains on the budget now. Putting RPAS with their requirement for data links to enable C2 of the platform and dissemination of any ISR collect etc provides a beacon shining out of the EMS, ideal exploiting.

[seadrills]

VDG is correct. These ships are the QE class to avoid confusion with the MS QEII. What's the difference?

Both are over 70,000 T.
Both are over 900' long

One cost £29,000,000
One cost £3,000,000,000

Which would you rather go to sea on?

[Hangarshuffle]

No drones. Simply will look like an expensive white elephant and an international laughing stock- thats the way its rapidly heading.
Probably put a few green onboard in some capacity of LPH?
Foreign fixed wing?
They dont know. No one does.
They dont know squat and shouldnt be put in charge of anything bigger than an upturned paddling pool.

[orca]

Does a paddling pool change size if you invert it?