July 2010

Pictures of BAE Systems' Glasgow shipyard

A year after the start of production, a picture showing the progress at BAE Systems' Glasgow shipyard has been released.

Picture doesn't do the size justice

ARTISAN testing is under way on the Isle of Wight 

As the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier starts to take shape in UK shipyards, one of its new radars is already being tested on the Isle of Wight. The new ARTISAN 3D radar that will track the aircraft operating from the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, is undertaking aircraft tracking trials on a full-size mock-up of the carrier’s superstructure. This will enable it to operate effectively in close proximity to the other surveillance and communications systems co-located with the radar.

ARTISAN 3D is a new medium range radar which – as well as performing air traffic management for the Queen Elizabeth Class – provides surveillance, target tracking, back-up navigation and Identification Friend or Foe capabilities to the UK’s Type 23 frigates. It will also be fitted to amphibious ships such as HMS Ocean, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark. With the recent completion of the ARTISAN 3D radar’s Customer Critical Design Review, BAE Systems and its partners are taking the £100 million programme, which carries a 10-year support element, into full production.

Mock up of Isle of Wight testing facility. Top 40% of the island

Converteam develops catapult launch system for UK carriers 

 Investment of the development for an electromagnetic catapult to be fitted to the carriers has begun in case the F-35B fighter jets are not bought. This would mean the F-35C variant would operate, or a completely different alternative.

Carrier construction begins on the Mersey 

Birkenhead company Cammell Laird is the final shipyard in the programme to begin construction and will build two of the sections that will make up the ship's giant flight deck. Together the two sections will weigh in at 7,500 tonnes - more than a Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer. The work is worth £44m to Cammell Laird and will provide a significant number of jobs in the area, boosting the local economy.

Laying down CB-02 at Mersey

Aircraft Carrier Alliance awards sub-contracts

The alliance responsible for delivering the UK’s Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers is awarding four more sub-contracts worth almost £33.2m. Seven UK suppliers have recently been awarded contracts for providing a number of vital services and parts for the ships, including the massive storage facility near Glasgow where components and equipment for the ships will be securely stored prior to being fitted on to the aircraft carriers.

• That contract, worth £18m, was bestowed to Wiltshire-based logistical and distribution service Wincanton.
• Balfour Beatty Engineering Services have been awarded a £15m contract to install cables and containment on the modules being constructed at the Scottish district Govan prior to final integration at the coastal town of Rosyth. Once the ships are completed a reported 2,500km of cable will be installed.
• A contract worth over £44,000 has been awarded to Glasgow based company Edmundson Electrical for glands, which are used to pack and make airtight the cables that run throughout the ships.
• Jetway Associates of Wiltshire has been awarded a contract for £137,000 for the supply of hose baskets, which form part of the fire fighting equipment on the ships.