INVINCIBLE CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, UNITED KINGDOM
The first-of-class HMS Invincible Aircraft Carrier was built by
Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering (now BAE Systems Marine) at
Barrow-in-Furness. The ship was commissioned in July 1980. The two
sister ships HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal, both built at the
Swan Hunter Shipbuilders yard in Wallsend, were commissioned in
1982 and 1985.
The role of the 20,600t aircraft carrier is to provide a command
headquarters for the task group and to support the operations of
the short take off and vertical landing aircraft and helicopters.
The ship accommodates over 1,000 crew, including 350 aircrew with
80 officers. It also has capacity for an additional 500
marines.
The vessels were armed with a Sea Dart twin launcher, installed on
the forecastle of the ship near the ski ramp. However, the missile
system has been removed from all three carriers and the flight deck
extended, to provide more capacity for aircraft and enable take-off
for RAF Harrier GR.7/9 aircraft. HMS Invincible completed a refit
in March 2003. Illustrious completed refit at Babcock's Rosyth yard
in November 2004.
In March/April 2003, HMS Ark Royal was deployed as part of the UK
task force in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On board were
Merlin HMA1 and Sea King ASaC Mk 7 helicopters, the first
operational deployment of these aircraft.
COMMAND SYSTEMS
The combat data system is BAE SYSTEMS ADIMP with communication
links Link 10, Link 11 and Link 14. Following refit, HMS Invincible
has had the combat system upgraded to the same standard as
Illustrious and Ark Royal, with new multi-function consoles and
flat-panel colour displays. The secure satellite communications
system, the Astrium (formerly Matra Marconi) SCOT, has the capacity
to handle data rates up to 2Mb/s.
GUNS
HMS Ark Royal is armed with three Mark 15 Phalanx close-in weapon
systems (CIWS) from Raytheon and General Dynamics. Each Phalanx
CIWS has one 20mm M61A1 Vulcan Gatling-principle gun which fires
3,000 rounds/min at a range of 1.5km.
HMS Invincible and Illustrious each have three Thales Nederland
(formerly Signaal) Goalkeeper CIWS. Goalkeeper's Gatling principle
30mm gun provides a maximum firing rate of 4,200 rounds/min with a
range of 1,500m.
All three carriers are also equipped with two GAM-B01 20mm guns
from Oerlikon-Contraves and BAE SYSTEMS, which have a maximum range
of 2km and firing rate of 1,000 rounds/min.
COUNTERMEASURES
The Invincible class is fitted with the Thales Defence Type 675(2)
jamming system and a UAT(
electronic
support measures system also supplied by Thales Defence (formerly
Racal).
The ship's decoy system is the Royal Navy's Outfit DLJ with Sea
Gnat. There are eight 130mm six-barrel launchers produced by
Hunting Engineering. Chemring and Pains Wessex produce the Sea Gnat
chaff and infra-red decoys.
AIRCRAFT
The ship supports nine Harrier aircraft (both the Royal Air Force
GR7/GR9 Harrier II and the Royal Navy FA2 Sea Harrier, now operated
by the combined RAF/RN Joint Force Harrier), nine Sea King HAS 6
antisubmarine warfare helicopters and three Sea King AEW 2 and ASaC
Mk 7 airborne early warning helicopters. FA2 Sea Harrier aircraft
will be retired by 2007. Landing trials with the Merlin HM.1
helicopter have taken place on the Ark Royal, which is the first
carrier to deploy the Merlin.
The runway is about 170m long with a ski ramp set at 12°. In the
hangar deck the aircraft is tethered to the floor using securing
chains with tension clamps. Strachan and Henshaw have been
contracted to install a replacement aircraft carrier lift
system.
SENSORS
The BAE SYSTEMS Type 909 G/H-band fire control radar, which
provided target tracking and illumination for the Sea Dart missile,
has been removed from the three carriers. BAE SYSTEMS Type 996
surface search radar antennae is mounted very high on the tower
between the two funnels. HMS Ark Royal has Type 992. Both radars
operate at E and F-bands. BAE SYSTEMS Type 1022 air search radar
operates at D-band. HMS Invincible and Ark Royal are equipped with
the Kelvin Hughes Type 1006 navigation radar and HMS Illustrious
has the Type 1007, both operating at I-band.
Qinetiq, with Babcock Design & Technology, has been awarded a
contract to provide an advanced technology mast communications and
radar mast for HMS Ark Royal. The sensors and antennas will be
housed within the structure, protected from the environment. The
mast is due to enter service in late 2005.
The sonar system is the hull-mounted Type 2016 active/passive
search and attack sonar by Thales Underwater Systems (formerly
Thomson Marconi Sonar).
PROPULSION
The ship is powered by COGAG (combined gas turbine and gas
turbine), consisting of four Rolls Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbine
engines generating 97,000hp, providing a speed of 28 knots. At the
economical speed of 19 knots the range of the ship is 7000
miles.
