42 // SEPTEMBER 2017 #354 http://www.airforcesmonthly.comcontrols are automated and they have
been repeatedly practised in simulations.
A lot of the early work will involve proving
that the computer simulations of flight
operations are valid and will look at the
environmental impact of operating the F-35B
over the deck. The carrier deck will have
to cope with 1,500-degree centigrade heat
from the F-35B’s engine. The original coating
did not pass muster and a new Thermal
Metal Spray System, consisting of a metallic
compound of aluminium and titanium, has
since been applied to important parts of
Queen Elizabeth’s flight deck. One officer
described this as a “science project” because
until a jet actually tries to land on the ship
no one will know what will happen. “We are
pretty confident the deck is not going to burstinto flames as soon as a jet tries to land,” he
said. “What we are interested in is working
out how long the coating will last and what
type of maintenance regime we need to
put in place to maintain its effectiveness.”
The flight trials off the east coast of
the US will involve test-instrumented
aircraft to collect the required data, rather
than operational examples from No
617 Squadron at MCAS Beaufort, South
Carolina. The first batch of pilots and
ground personnel are in training there
ahead of the unit’s return to RAF Marham,
Norfolk, next summer. By the end of 2018,
nine aircraft should be at Marham, which
will enable initial operational capability
(IOC) to be declared by the squadron.
In the summer/autumn of 2019, No 617Squadron is expected to embark on HMS
Queen Elizabeth for a series of squadron-level
operational test and evaluation exercises, to
prove the warfighting tactics and procedures
needed to operate a significant number of
F-35Bs from the ship. The following year,
the operational envelope will be pushed
further still via a full task-group-level
operational trial that will bring together a
squadron of F-35Bs, anti-submarine and
airborne early warning Merlins, surface
warships, supply vessels and shore-based
air power. If successful, this test will allow
the Royal Navy to declare carrier strike IOC.The importance of success
In its report into the carrier strike project
published in March 2017, the NAO spending
watchdog said that the timescale for realising
the new carrier strike plan was “ambitious”
and fraught with what it termed “risk”, which
could either lead to delays or cost overruns. If
key test milestones are missed then knock-on
delays could impact other parts of the project.
The tight nature of the test programme was
highlighted by the NAO when it revealed that
the former Prime Minister David Cameron
had asked the Royal Navy to consider using
the carrier for emergency combat operations
before 2020. However, the Navy responded
that this was unadvisable because it would
have “safety implications” and could end
up delaying the project even further.
The NAO also reported that many enabling
capabilities had not yet been confirmed
or even contracted. This included the
additional equipment and training required
to enable US Marine Corps F-35Bs to
operate from the UK carriers and vice-
versa, sufficient weapons for the Lightning
IIs and the helicopters to be embarked
on the carriers, the maritime intra-theatre
lift capability (known as carrier onboard
delivery – COD) to move people and goods
to and from shore, and tactical datalinks.Naval air power future
If the next three years’ worth
of trials and testing goHMS QUEEN ELIZABETH
Right: The first
aviation arrival on
deck; an 820 NAS
Merlin HMA2
lands on
July 3.HMS ‘Queen Elizabeth’ at
the start her four-month-
long contractor trials
programme in June.Above: The carrier will return to Rosyth after the initial period of trials before a second set of evaluations
takes place designed to test ‘warfighting’ elements.