So, the powers that be have finally given the green light to the Elizabeth class aircraft carrier. Two ships will now be built, as was originally wanted. The two ships, HMS Queen Elizabeth, and HMS Prince of Wales, will be built, at a total cost of £3.9 billion. They will be built in a joint venture by BAE Systems (“British Aerospace” as was) and VT Group (“Vosper Thorneycroft” as was). The ships will be, for a change, UK built. Portsmouth, Barrow in Furness, Govan and Rosyth will be the sites used during construction, which it is hoped will employ about 10,000 people.
The ships will be based out of Portsmouth, home to the current Invincible class fleet, and each carrier will eventually have a full complement of 36 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, which are being jointly built and developed by the UK and US (BAE / Lockheed Martin / Northrop), though when the fleet goes into service in 2014, they will also be equipped to carry Harriers, as the JSF is unlikely to be fully ready by that time.
They nay sayers and peaceniks are unsurprisingly up in arms about the whole project. However, although I’m hardly itching to go an invade Iran, I think there are genuine reasons to be happy about this project.
Firstly, our existing fleet is old, and the ships are small. We have to be realistic and keep our military up to date, otherwise there is no point in having one at all. We need to be able to back up the people we put on the ground, and air support is a major part of that. We can’t just leave them out there with no back up at all.
Secondly, our shipyards are dying. Whilst I feel a big part of this has been due to the desertion of our shipbuilders by our own shipping companies, if the government can assist in protecting jobs not only by committing to necessary orders (preferably without delay, in future) then this helps, especially since these ships will not only be built in the UK, they will be based in Portsmouth, providing security socially for generations to come, as well as militarily (unless of course, we use them irresponsibly, which of course our government would never do! *cough*Iraq*cough* *cough*Afghanistan*cough* *cough*Falklands*cough*)
So yes, I think this is a welcome development, and I’m interested to see how the JSF project will develop now there is a guaranteed UK platform for it’s deployment, even if I am far from happy about the idea of us sharing a joint weapons platform with the US. Portsmouth needs these ships, Barrow certainly needs them, and the Royal Navy need them even more.
Let us just hope that having been given such powerful ships, we may be wiser in the use of them than we have been in the past, and that the Ministry of Defence may live up to name, and use them to defend us, not attack those who are not our real enemies.
Tags: Elizabeth class carrier, military spending, ministry of defence, Portsmouth, war
