HMS Queen Elizabeth (CVF)

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Career United Kingdom

Builder:	BAE Systems Thales Group KBR VT Group Babcock International Group
Laid down:
Launched:
Status:	Planned
General characteristics
Displacement:	65,000 tons
Length:	900 ft
Beam:	39 metres (waterline) c.70 metres overall
Draught:	9 metres
Speed:
Range:	10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km)
Capacity:	1,400
Complement:	600
Aircraft carried:	48 aircraft, such as F-35 Lightning II & the EH101 Merlin helicopter

HMS Queen Elizabeth will be the first of the Royal Navy's two new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and is scheduled to enter service in 2014.^[1]

Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship (Prince of Wales) will be the largest warships ever built in the United Kingdom. They are multi-purpose carriers that can adapt to complete multiple roles. It will be capable of carrying 40 aircraft (the F-35B Lightning II) or 25 Chinook helicopters, a major capability upgrade from the current Invincible class carriers.

The ships will be built in four sections, at Portsmouth, Rosyth, Barrow-in-Furness, and on the Clyde, by BAE Systems and VT Group before being assembled on the Clyde.^[2]

The aircraft currently selected to be used on these carriers are the Short Take Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the Lightning II. Originally the carrier will be fitted with a ski-jump ramp but in the future, the flight deck will have the provision to be converted to use a catapult launch and arrestor recovery system should the U.K. choose to operate the conventional F-35C or an Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) similar to the X-47 Pegasus.

Defence secretary Des Browne confirmed the £3.8bn order for the two carriers on 25 July 2007. The news was welcomed by politicians, trade unions and business. Both ships of the class will be based at Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

^ Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 2007-07-25
^ Harding, Thomas (2007-07-26). £4bn carriers 'will be jewel in Navy's crown'. The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-07-27.