Ark Royal back out of Refit
 

So, what air wing joins, and when?

The Times: Ark Royal sails back after £18m upgrade

The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal returned to front-line duties yesterday. At a ceremony, the Portsmouth-based vessel again became the flagship of the fleet after an £18 million, two-year upgrade in Scotland and six months of sea trials and training.

The ship’s 682-strong company was joined by private guests, former ships captains and the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band. Captain Mike Mansergh, the vessel’s commanding officer, said: “It is a very special day for Ark Royal because the ship can now be deployed across the world immediately.”

During the refit, the 20,000ton ship has had improvements in communications equipment, electronic charting and systems for defence against submarines. She ship will leave for Nato exercises in the coming weeks.

...I think there's already a thread on this in the caption competition !

JHC (wokkas and SK4's). She's duty LPH for the next couple of years while Ocean goes into refit.

Topical that Ark Royal rejoins active service 4 years to the day that she witnessed the tragic Sea King ASaC crash that killed seven 849 NAS aircrew in the Persian Gulf. Rest in peace guys. Primus Video.:sad:

What air wing? A valid question in my view, considering the shortage of carrier capable aircraft post Sea Harrier. Yes, the problem was predicted on the Sea Jet thread.

PS The news of Ark Royal's return to the front line fleet was mentioned on the Future Carrier thread.

Royal Navy Exercise Grey Heron

The Royal Navy will be conducting a major exercise, known as Grey Heron, in the waters of the Solent and the South West for two weeks from 24 September. Grey Heron is designed to train ships and personnel to undertake one of the key tasks that the Royal Navy may be required to carry out anywhere in the world – an amphibious operation.

HMS Bulwark will be doing assaults with Ark Royal and Mounts Bay in the SW, called Ex South West Sabre. The usual set up for an assault ship getting ready for deployments.

Here's a question - how long has Ark Royal spent on refit/reserve/extended readiness and how long on actual service in the last 15 years?

The answer surprised me.

IIRC the intention for Ark was always to run her lightly for the first half of her life, mainly so that right about now, with Vince knackered, she would still be in a good condition to carry on working. Thats one advantage of the 3 hulls with 2 active policy.

Exactly. Whether Ark was in refit/ extended readines or at sea is irrelevant. The point was that we had her available.

More on Exercise Grey Heron

Royal Navy Flagship HMS Ark Royal in Mock Battle off Plymouth

It occurs to me that operating a number of helicopters from a ship presents some of the same issues as fixed wing aircraft. Limited deck space, need for launch and recovery cycles to be controlled, airspace management etc.

Actually I just happened to get some pics of her the other day. It looks as though her aircraft have already been assigned. Also according to Jane's she now has improved defenses against parrafin soaked rags and a banger.

http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/m.../spahrarzi.jpg



http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/m.../spahrarzj.jpg




http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/m.../spahrarzc.jpg

ref here if you're interested

really sad page here if you must :hmm:

I think the CO meant to say
"It's a very special day for Ark Royal because the ship can now be deployed to cocktail parties across the world immediately":8
For £18m, should be an interesting quarter-deck awning

WEBF,
IMHO the main difference between having a RW TAG rather than FW TAG is that you haven't got to keep 450' of deck free to let the puff-jets wheeze their way off the deck....
Actually, it's not too different to embarking with SK7s!!
Good to see her back.

HMS Bulwark will be doing assaults with Ark Royal and Mounts Bay in the SW, called Ex South West Sabre. The usual set up for an assault ship getting ready for deployments.

You are right, see here.

Amphibious forces are good intruments for power projection, and can be used in imaginative ways, for example Bulwark's deployment to the Gulf last year, or Ocean's recent deployment to the Carribean. However, we must remember that they are high value assets (much the same as a carrier is), and would need to be defended in a conventional war scenario. We should be very wary of any further cuts to the RN Fleet.

Now for something completely different.

Lots of grey Yeovilton based aircraft aboard Ark Royal. See here.

I particularly like this picture.

"It's a very special day for Ark Royal because the ship can now be deployed to cocktail parties across the world immediately"

Hey, don't downplay it. The USS Midway does the same in San Diego bay. Those corporate chalets on the flight deck make a killing. If you can confine your future wars to cities with large defense industry infrastructure, the inland revenue boys will be quite happy.

Did I see a pic in AFM? recently of the Ark on exercise in the Adriatic with Spanish Harriers and Italian deck crews? (And a Croat Hip on the deck). Bit of a bu&&er when you have borrow some else's toys. Presume our toys are still flying/preparing to fly their nuts off in a sandy place.

Think that was HMS Illustrious taking part in Ex Noble Midas.
More carrier deck landings were made by foreign aircraft than British aircraft i think...

That's because our aircraft are at war, unlike the Spanish and Italian Harriers.