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Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier

HMS Queen Elizabeth in Rosyth Dockyard MOD 45158230.jpg
Queen Elizabeth fitting out at Rosyth in July 2014
Class overview
Name: Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier
Builders:
Operators:  Royal Navy
Preceded by: Invincible class
Cost: £6.2bn budget for both ships.
In commission:
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:
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:
Armament:
Aircraft carried:
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 for the Royal Navy. The first, HMS Queen Elizabeth, 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), 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.


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