Simply put, HMS Queen Elizabeth is in the United States because it’s the best place to conduct F-35 trials from her flight deck.
Four F-35B pilots are completing final training in the US ahead of flying out to HMS Queen Elizabeth later in the month.
Over the course of the following weeks, the four pilots will conduct around 500 take offs and landings. The Royal Navy also confirmed that 200 engineers and experts from the F-35 Integrated Test Force based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in the United States will embark on HMS Queen Elizabeth to monitor the F-35 trails, including how it performs in varying sea states.
It is understood that the trials support staff will be joined by two F-35 test aircraft, belonging to the Integrated Test Force (ITF), which are expected to conduct 500 take offs and landings during their 11-week period at sea.
After speaking to one of the pilots in the test programme, I was informed that the UK only has three (BK1, 2 & 4) test jets that are “orange wired” to take data for post-flight analysis and these are based in the United States where they are contributing to the trials and development programme. Therefore, it is highly likely that the jets to go on HMS Queen Elizabeth later this year will be “mostly, if not entirely, American but flown by UK pilots”.
The reason that most if not all of the aircraft to touch down will be American isn’t some scandalous outrage (just watch how some papers report this, though) but rather most of the F-35Bs in Joint Operational Test team are American.
I was told by one of the UK pilots currently flying the jet that the reason for this is that the JOT team dictate the availability of test jets out of a pool.
“It would be nothing more than symbolic to make UK jets available for the trials and that comes at a significant effort since all of them are based at Edwards AFB in California, not on the East Coast where the ship trial is due to take place.
Therefore, the most obvious and cheaper choice is to use the F-35B test jets based at Pax River, which are US ones. British test pilots like Andy Edgell, Nath Gray, will obviously fly them but there’ll be US pilots too because that’s how Joint Test works.”
The aim of these initial, or ‘developmental’ trials are to ascertain, through the specially equipped aircraft and sensors around the ship, the operating parameters of the aircraft and ship, in a range of conditions. Similar successful trials were conducted by HMS Queen Elizabeth at sea earlier this year for Rotary Wing aircraft.
To try and get away from 24/7 BREXIT news!
😀
More riveting than Supreme Court stuff, though watchingbprotestors get thrown out i every 10 secs is quite entertqining
Greats ship, the QE class is without any doubt the most efficient and cost-effective carrier in the world.
I would be surprised if the US navy did not in the future develop something similar, a conventionally powered carrier with automated weapons handling systems that can deliver 75% of the firepower of a Ford class carrier but at 1/3 the cost. A cats and traps version could be built and even then the cost would still probably be only 1/2 that of a Ford class.
The Ford class are massively expensive and no doubt hugely capably ships but are they 2-3 times more capable than a QE class?
I personally would like the RN to get a 3rd carrier so we can rotate in and out of refit and surge to 2 carriers with ease, whilst the 3rd is in refit/ reserve. Just need to reinvest in the RN and make sure we have the required 26+ frigates and destroyers and 2-3 more astute class.
Leaving the EU, reducing our foreign aid budget by 50% and we can easily do this.
Mr Bell
They are really 25% of the cost of a Ford Carrier – at least £1bn is down to HMG wastefulness.
They are definitely the most VFM carriers in the world that for sure
Yes the Ford carrier is 2-3 times as capable as the QE. And if you honestly believe that a conventional carrier with 24 STOLV aircraft, no over the horizon detection capability, no real ship defense, inferior propulsion system, lesser speed, limited range, is twice as effective as a Ford class carrier then good for you.
The cost of the Ford class will come down on future carriers. For example the next carrier, the JFK, is 14 months ahead of schedule.
The US Navy has global responsibilities unlike the Royal Navy which is a regional Navy. The UK has to make a gigantic effort just to sail one destroyer though the South China Sea. The US will continue to build nuclear carriers since they make sense given the US’s strategic interests.
One more thing. The Ford Class is built to provide sufficient electrical power for direct energy weapons. The QE?
I hope they keep safe when they get to New York. They should probably stick together in groups if they’re going to any bars there. Well at least they won’t be there for Gerry Adams day !
New York’s not so bad. It’s not like it’s Chicago or Istanbul.