Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier

Queen Elizabeth fitting out at Rosyth in July 2014
Class overview
Name:	Queen Elizabeth class
Builders:	BAE Systems Surface Ships Thales Group Babcock Marine
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Invincible class
Cost:	£6.2bn budget for both ships.$9.47 bn
In commission:	2017 (HMS Queen Elizabeth) 2020 (HMS Prince of Wales)
Building:	1
Planned:	2
Completed:	1
Active:	0
General characteristics
Type:	Aircraft carrier
Displacement:	70,600 tonnes (69,500 long tons; 77,800 short tons)
Length:	280 m (920 ft)
Beam:	39 m (128 ft) (waterline) 70 m (230 ft) overall
Draught:	11 m (36 ft)
Decks:	16,000 m2 (170,000 sq ft) 9 decks beneath flightdeck with hangar covering the centrepiece of two decks (without islands)
Installed power:	2 × Rolls-Royce Marine Trent MT30 36 MW (48,000 hp) gas turbine 4 × Wärtsilä 38 marine diesel engines (2 × 12V38 8.7 MW or 11,700 hp & 2 × 16V38 11.6 MW or 15,600 hp)
Propulsion:	Full integrated electric propulsion 4 × Converteam 20 MW Advanced Induction Motors Two shafts; fixed pitch propellers
Speed:	In excess of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range:	10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi)
Troops:	250 to 900
Complement:	679 crew, not including air element; total berths for up to 1,600
Sensors and processing systems:	S1850M long range radar Type 997 Artisan 3D medium range radar Ultra Electronics Series 2500 Electro Optical System (EOS) Glide Path Camera (GPC)
Armament:	At least 3 × Phalanx CIWS 30-mm DS30M Mk2 guns Miniguns
Aircraft carried:	Current planned Carrier Air Wing of up to 40 aircraft (50 full load - can be expanded to 70+): F-35B Lightning II Chinook Apache AH64 Merlin HM2 and HC4 Wildcat AH1 and HMA2 Merlin Crowsnest AEW
Aviation facilities:	Large flight deck with ski jump Hangar deck Two aircraft lifts

4 × Converteam 20 MW Advanced Induction Motors Two shafts; fixed pitch propellers

The Queen Elizabeth class is a class of two aircraft carriers currently under construction and fitting out for the Royal Navy. The first, HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08), was named on 4 July 2014, with her ship commissioning planned for 2017, and an initial operating capability expected in 2020. The second, HMS Prince of Wales, is scheduled to be launched around Summer 2017, followed by commissioning in 2020 and service thereafter. On 5 September 2014, at the NATO 2014 Wales summit, the Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the second carrier will be brought into service, ending years of uncertainty surrounding its future. Confirmed by the November 2015 Government Strategic Defence Review, with both carriers entering service, one being available at any time.

The contract for the vessels was announced on 25 July 2007, by the then Secretary of State for Defence, Des Browne, ending several years of delay over cost issues and British naval shipbuilding restructuring. The contracts were signed one year later on 3 July 2008, after the creation of BVT Surface Fleet through the merger of BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions and VT Group's VT Shipbuilding, which was a requirement of the UK Government.

The vessels currently have a displacement of approximately 70,600 tonnes (69,500 long tons) (77,800 short tons), but the design anticipates growth over the lifetime of the ships. The ships will be 280 metres (920 ft) long and have a Carrier Air Wing (CVW) of up to forty aircraft (though are capable of carrying up to fifty at full load). They will be the largest warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy. The projected cost of the programme is £6.2 billion.