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Future Aircraft Carrier - CVF
Queen Elizabeth Class
Part 6
Project Schedule
In 1999 the government and MOD has
stated that the first CVF will enter service in 2012 and the second in
2015. That remained the official line until late 2005, since then
officials have reiterated these dates as being the target, but then qualified
them by stating that the final schedule will only be set at Main Gate 2 and they
won't speculate.
Formally launched in 1998 the CVF project was soon
affected by an approximately 9 months slippage in the JSF Project, and a
21 month delay in the formal JCA down-selection. The CVF Project time-line
was revised and the delays had been largely absorbed by January 2003, but then
opened again as Main Gate was considerably delayed from the expected late 2003.
In July 2007 - at Main Gate 2 - official statements said the
first carrier would now enter service in 2014. and the second in 2016.
Since 2003 the MOD has become extremely vague in
relation to planned milestone dates related to the CVF Project, most
future dates are now classified and not published, but using open
sources the project plan appears to be roughly as follows:
| Event |
Actual or Likely Schedule |
Official Dates |
| Ministerial approval
and formal User Requirements Document endorsement as Staff Target
(Sea) 7068 - "Initial Gate" approval. |
December 1998 |
|
| Invitation to Tender
for Assessment Phase issued. |
25 January 1999 |
|
| One year CVF Assessment Phase
Stage 1 (Analysis of Options) contracts worth £5.9 million
awarded to BAE Systems PLC and Thomson-CSF (now Thales). |
22 November 1999 |
|
| [First flights of JSF
demonstrators X.32 and X.35] |
Autumn 2000 |
|
| Equipment Acquisition Committee (EAC)
recommends JSF for the FCBA (now JCA), preference for STOVL
variant. |
December 2000 |
|
| FJCA Decision, JSF selected - UK
signs MoU for JSF EMD Phase. |
17 January 2001 |
|
| [First flights of JSF UK/USMC
STOVL version demonstrators] |
Early/mid 2001 |
|
| Assessment Phase Stage 1 (Analysis
of Options) - AP1 - completed, after a 6 month extension. |
29 June 2001 |
|
| Follow on 12 month CVF Assessment
Phase Stage 2 (Risk Reduction and Cost Capability Trades) - AP2 -
contracts worth £30 million each awarded to BAE Systems and
Thales. |
21 November 2001 |
|
| France's "Military Programme
2003-8" includes plans to build a new aircraft carrier
(PA2). Discussions start with the UK about possible
co-operation between the two country's carrier projects. |
11 September 2002 |
|
| JSF variant down-selection for JCA
- the Lockheed-Martin F-35 (STOVL variant) selected |
30 September 2002 |
|
| Assessment Phase Stage 2
completed - earlier than originally planned due to a revision of the
project plan. |
20 November 2002 |
|
| BAE Systems selected as Preferred
Prime Contractor, but Thales design to be taken forward. |
30 January 2003 |
|
| President Chirac and Prime
Minister Blair discuss co-operation on aircraft carriers
during a summit at Touquet. |
4 February 2003 |
|
| The Head of the DPA requests the CVF
Alliance design team to study smaller/cheaper variants than the current
"Alpha" baseline |
June 2003 |
|
| Preliminary agreement on Future
Carrier Alliance approved. BAE Systems, with major
subcontractor Thales, officially awarded CVF Assessment
Stage Phase 3 (Design Refinement and Risk Reduction) contract -
AP3. |
5 September 2003 |
|
| MOD Conference selects the "Delta" design
variant as the new baseline. |
December 2003 |
|
| France announces that PA2 will be
of a conventional design, and that it hopes to co-operate with UK
on the design and build. |
13 February 2004 |
|
| Design Review 1 completed. Assessment Phase Stage 3
completed. |
31 March 2004 |
|
| BAE Systems deselected as
preferred Prime Contractor. |
April 2004 |
|
| Thales and DCN announce a joint company (35:65
owned) to
act as Prime Contractor for PA2. |
4 June 2004 |
|
| UK and French Defence Ministers
sign document defining areas of aircraft carrier co-operation |
9 June 2004 |
|
| 8 Month CVF Assessment Phase extension
announced (Stage 4). |
19 July 2004 |
|
| BAE Systems-Thales UK and DCN-Thales submit
proposals for areas of co-operation between the CVF and PA.2
projects. |
November 2004 |
|
| Joint Project Office for PA.2
(MO PA2) established by DCN and Thales. |
Q4 2004 |
|
| French DGA awards MO PA2 (DCN
and Thales) a €100 million contract for the PA2 general design and engineering concept. |
24 January 2005 |
|
| Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) selected as
preferred CVF Physical Integrator. |
7 February 2005 |
|
| CVF Extended Assessment Phase Stage
4 completed. Proposals received from CVF
Alliance for Demonstration and Manufacture Phase with for
alternative CVF design iterations and cost-benefit trade-offs. |
31 March 2005 |
|
| 100-day CVF Review Completed |
14 June 2005 |
|
| Industry submits results of study in to
possible co-operative areas between the CVF and PA projects. |
24 June 2005 |
|
| The French DGA awards DCN and Thales a
€20 million contract for developing a detailed preliminary PA2 design using a tailored CVF
concept (CVF FR). |
12 December 2005 |
|
| CVF Main Gate Part 1 approval.
18 month Demonstration Phase (contract period Feb 06 to Jun 07) commences, £297 million approved for design
work and long lead items. |
14 December 2005 |
|
| UK and French Defence
ministers agree in principle the division of costs for a shared design based
on CVF. |
24 January 2006 |
|
| CVF Assessment Phase formally
completes. Expected duration 4 years 1 month, actual duration 6 years
2 months, expected cost £118 million, actual cost cost £302 million |
January 2006 |
|
| UK and French governments sign a memorandum of understanding
on the sharing of CVF Assessment Phase information. France to pay £55
million (€45 million plus €35 million) for access. |
6 March 2006 |
|
| Demonstration Phase Aircraft Carrier
Alliance agreement signed by members. Design contracts worth £143
million confirmed. |
13 April 2006 |
|
| IPT Team Leader and ACA Chief
Executive sign-off Baseline 1 'blue prints' - ship general arrangements.
Work begins on Baseline 2 - detailed shipyard production drawings for
manufacture. |
February 2007 |
|
| Submission of the CVF Business Case to the IAB
Secretary, starting the Main Gate 2 approval process. |
May 2007 |
|
| Cabinet level ministerial and
Treasury approval of CVF investment decision - Main Gate Part 2
milestone. |
27 July 2007 |
|
| Demonstration Phase completed, Manufacture Phase
starts |
October 2007 |
|
| Operational analysis and review of JCA requirements
completes. [F-35 variant and mode of operation decided for CVF] |
H2 2007 |
|
| MOD awards CVF detailed and manufacture manufacture contracts expected to
be worth £3..8 billion with the ACA. (i.e. the ships are ordered) |
Late 2007 |
|
| Contracts places for detailed design and engineering
work on CVF FR by French MOD. Additional payments to the UK totalling
£85 million (€60 plus €65 million) triggered for use of the common baseline design. |
|
Early 2008 |
| Construction contracts awarded for PA2 using CVF FR
design by French MOD. |
|
Early 2008 |
| First steel cut for first-of-class, CVF-01 |
January 2009 |
|
| Initial batch of JCA's ordered |
|
December 2008 |
| First steel cut for French PA2 |
Early 2009 |
|
| Assembly and integration of CVF-01 superblock's begins at
Rosyth. |
H1 2012 |
|
| CVF-01 begins Contractor Sea Trials |
H2 2013 |
|
| PA2 commences sea trials |
2013 |
|
| PA2 officially completed |
2014 |
|
| CVF-01 accepted from builders and commissioned in to
the RN. Commences first-of-class trials, safety checks, and
operational sea training. |
|
Late 2013 |
| Assembly and integration of CVF-02 superblock's begins at
Rosyth. |
2014 |
|
| CVF-01 In-Service Date [see notes] |
|
Late 2014 |
| JCA enters service |
|
December 2014? |
| PA2 In-Service Date |
2015 |
Early 2015 |
| CVF-02 In-Service Date |
|
2016 |
| JCA enters service |
|
2017 |
| MASC enters service |
2018 |
|
| First operational deployment of JCA and MASC on a CVF |
2020 |
|
Notes:
1. October 2012 and August 2015 according to the User Requirements Document. At the time of Initial Gate (Dec 1998) the most likely ISD for
CVF-01 was given as August 2012, that changed to October 2012 in 2002
with the addition of two months operational sea training prior to ISD.
Between 2004 and July 2006 the date was classified information.
2. The right hand column of unshaded future milestones given are the
latest available officially (Government, MOD or Future Carrier Alliance)
projected dates. They may hide considerable a slight slippage, e.g. the
original in-service date for MASC was 2012.
3. In 2004 MOD changed the definition of “in service” for CVF, allegedly so that an earlier date could
be achieved than with the previous definition. In July 2007 the MoD announced
that the in-service date of CVA-01 was now 2014 (previously 2012), and CVA-02
was 2016 (previously 2015).
4. A fully operational JCA/JSF squadron will
not be available until 2020 at the earliest.
The planned schedule in January 2003. It shows how the then planned main
milestones, key phases and aircraft programmes inter-related.
According to plans approved in early 2003, first steel
for the first CVF would be cut in 2006 and final assembly of the first carrier would begin
at Rosyth in 2009. The ship would be completed in 2010, and after
two years of trials, training and work-up, would enter service in late
2012. Her sister ship would follow three year later. In
response to concerns about delays in the project, a government spokesman
stated
on 16 June 2003: "Our target in-service dates for the two new carriers remain
2012 and 2015. Estimates for their delivery will be developed
progressively during the remainder of the Assessment Phase, taking account of
the maturing carrier design. Expected in-service dates will be confirmed
when we place the Demonstration and Manufacture contract."
 In August 2003, a member of the CVF Alliance said that while timescales are
becoming very tight, they were still achievable, however its believed that in
May 2003, BAE Systems told the DPA that it estimated the likely ISD of the first
ship as early 2014. By November 2003 BAE Systems officials were indicating off
the record that they believed that 2015 was now the most realistic date for the
entry in to service of CVF-01, and developments since then would seem to confirm
this view. As one BAE Systems source put it: "Until the customer decides
what kind of carrier to build we cannot give a precise [in-service] date".
Despite continuing delays, the government continued to reiterate
the 2012/15 dates, for example the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)
stated on 1 February 2005, "The year 2012 is still the date that we have in
mind for the first aircraft carrier. ", while Mr Ingram
stated for the government on 1 March 2005, "Our target acquisition cost for
the Future Carrier (CVF) programme is around £3 billion, with target in service
dates of 2012 and 2015. "
But one important driver for a 2012 ISD for CVF relaxed. It was
originally necessary for CVF-01 to be available in 2012 for a joint
RN/RAF Intensive Flying Trials Unit to undertake carrier trials
and testing of the UK's Joint Combat Aircraft, any delay to the CVF
project would have directly delayed the JCA project unless an alternative
platform for testing at sea could be found. However
Lockheed-Martin has been battling weight and technical problems with its Joint Strike
Fighter (JSF) F-35 design, and these problems have particularly affected
the F-35B STOVL variant which the UK selected for JCA in 2002. The US
Department of Defense agreed in June 2004 to a two year delay to the
initial entry in to service of the F-35B with the USMC, i.e. from 2010
to 2012. The MOD decided to similarly slip the UK F-35 in-service date
by two years, from 2012 to 2014, so that it could still benefit from USMC experiences and take
delivery of the Block 3 variant that it wants. In early 2017, as a
result of budgetary shortfalls, the MOD decided to further slip the in-service
date of JCA to 2017.
CVF Programme Summary, dated October 2006. Note the deliberate vagueness after
March 2006. (source: ACA)
On 25 July 2007 the Defence Secretary, Des Browne, stated that the two new
carriers would be in service by 2014 and 2016 respectively.
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