Ghost of a flea

Carriers

I worked for the guys building the new British carriers for a couple years. I can imagine the satisfaction people are feeling at this news. Have a pint or three for me, lads (via InstaPundit).

December 4, 2003: France is considering quietly retiring their new nuclear powered aircraft carrier and joining with Britain to buy a new carrier of British design. Actually, the French had planned to built a second nuclear powered carrier, but they are having so many problems with the first one that they are quite reluctant about building another one. Britain is building two 50,000 ton conventionally powered carriers, at a cost of $2.5 billion each. France would order a third of this class, and bring down the cost of all three a bit. The new French nuclear carrier "Charles de Gaulle" has suffered from a seemingly endless string of problems. The 40,000 ton ship has cost over four billion dollars so far and is slower than the diesel powered carrier it replaced. Flaws in the "de Gaulle" have led it to using the propellers from it predecessor, the "Foch," because the ones built for "de Gaulle" never worked right. Worse, the nuclear reactor installation was done poorly, exposing the engine crew to five times the allowable annual dose of radiation. There were also problems with the design of the deck, making it impossible to operate the E-2 radar aircraft that are essential to defending the ship and controlling offensive operations. Many other key components of the ship did not work correctly, and the carrier has been under constant repair and modification. The "de Gaulle" took eleven years to build (1988-99) and was not ready for service until late 2000. It's been downhill ever since. So the plan is to buy into the new British carrier building program and keep the "de Gaulle" in port and out of trouble as much as possible. The British have a lot more experience building carriers, and if there are any problems with the British designed ship, one can blame the British.

And then... Further googling suggests StrategyPage may have too optimistic a spin on the story. One plan reportedly under consideration is not only bad for the ship-builders in Barrow but a bad idea for the Royal Navy.

Under this plan Britain would build only one aircraft carrier while France would build the second. Both would be compatible with the French Dassault Rafale aircraft rather than the Joint Strike Fighter, which had been earmarked for the British carriers. The carriers could be used by the air and naval air forces of both countries.

Nicholas Soames, the shadow defence secretary, described the plans as a "lunatic suggestion".

"The British carriers are part of our strategy for expeditionary capabilities. It is simply not possible for Britain to operate in such a way with a country with which it finds itself so frequently at odds," he said.

Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat’s foreign affairs spokesman and MP for North East Fife, said: "If these reports are true, they would represent a remarkable development in European defence co-operation.

"But previous experience with the French leads one to believe that such arrangements, while desirable in principle, could be very difficult in practice."

Posted by Ghost of a flea at December 5, 2003 07:02 AM

Comments

Posted by: Timothy Ward at July 17, 2004 05:00 AM