Queen Elizabeth Carrier
 

Was appalled to read an article in the Business section of the Telegraph about the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier as it raises a great deal of concern. The high level of automation so that fewer sailors are needed, is heavily praised and emphasised. In addition, the idea of the crew finding their way round the ship using Platform Navigation instead of knowledge is close to risible. It should be kept in mind that this is a warship and thus subject to battle damage. Aicraft carriers are particularly vulnerable in the days of the missile and the word redundancy did not feature in the article. When the lights go out, sailors are desperately needed.

The article also went on to criticize the moratorium on the use of the silent letter "u" in order to save money on printing ink.

4Greens

You are right, of course, just as one needs sailors for Disaster Relief after hurricanes et al. Unfortunately, sailors appear in the defence costs every year whereas equipment only appears when it is being bought.

So, if you want Defence on the cheap but with shiny new ships/aircraft they are going to have very few expensive boys and girls to drive and maintain them. Any army is going to be small and backed up by part timers.

The fact that this is not really a Defence capability is fine by the politicians and seems to be fine by voters. It's the future, until someone wants to fight.

N

The Platform Navigation system is more for familiarisation during the build of the ship and for new joiners. I doubt anyone expects it to replace knowledge of how to get to compartment 9DN from 2HF once you've been aboard for a while. Think of it as a more modern version of the engineering or WE handbook.

As BEngO says, matelots are not cheap, so the need to keep that under control is crucial to actually having the capability. Aircraft carriers are no more vulnerable to missiles than any other ship (or indeed base) and while no-one would suggest you can automate shoring, casevac, concrete repairs etc, you can do an awful lot by reducing the need for compartment rounds and initial damage surveys via sensor networks and the use of fixed firefighting systems where appropriate.

4Greens,speak for yourself old chap !

The platform navigation system is also there to act as a ship-wide modem to allow the sailors to connect their I-pods to I-tunes on a 24/7 basis. No doubt, the contractor has already bought shares.....:E

I will add that the air wing will consist of single seat jets, including some flown by ex-Harrier fighter pilots, so an automatic navigation system will almost certainly be needed, together with low-level light-up walkways to direct them to the Wardroom! As was said by AOC 1 Group at a talk he gave yesterday: fighter pilots are perfectly capable of forming a loving, caring and bonding relationship....its just that no other individual is involved.

... surely these days jamming of iTunes would be a cruel and unusual tactic contrary to the Rules of War and the Additional Protocols (1997) to the Geneva Convention! ;)

From the ICRC Website (my bold):

I note the pretty picture shows Chinooks above and below deck

HMS Queen Elizabeth: Britain's new aircraft carrier in detail - Telegraph

Ironic they show a comparison in size against the Titanic :p

The result of the Queen Elizabeth's technological advances is that just 32 sailors can do the work that once required 200

Automation is fine until you are hit and lose power... then you are stuffed.

These ships will have a core crew of 679 which will rise to around 1,600 when a full airwing is embarked. That's hardly comparable with a modern supertanker in terms of lean manning. Don't see what folk are moaning about.

I suspect that they would have had difficulty in saving HMS Nottingham if she had been so leanly manned.

Loving the comments beneath the story:



The old ones are always the best.

According to the Telegraph photo, she's going to sail into Portsmouth 'Full Stern Ahead'.
:uhoh:

This will give the Commanding Officer an excellent view from his suite without leaving his scratcher :}

Good catch Flapjack! :)

I heard Portsmouth is a little rough around the edges.... perhaps she is escaping.

No doubt the reduction in crew and the size of the ship will have absolutely no bearing on the accommodation available, I bet they will still be crammed into the some pokey little hole where hot bedding is the norm.

As for the Telegraphs story

Does the Queen do Smashing? One would have thought breaking would sound more upmarket.. :O

Guess whoever wrote the piece and did the graphic has never been to Pompey

I thought it was the first Queen Elizabeth.

Nah, I saw her lying on the bottom of Hong Kong harbour.

Was Bond there too?

Did they not drop the 2 off the end to stop people mixing it up with the holiday cruise liner?