Class Aircraft Carriers Research Articles

Prescreened Whole O Blood Group Walking Blood Bank Capabilities for Nontraditional Maritime Medical Receiving Platforms: A Case Series.

Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) guidelines recognize low-titer group O whole blood (LTOWB) as the resuscitative fluid of choice for combat wounded. Utilization of prescreened LTOWB in a walking blood bank (WBB) format has been well described by the Ranger O low-titer blood (ROLO) and the United States Marine Corps Valkyrie programs, but it has not been applied to the maritime setting. We describe three WBB experiences of an expeditionary resuscitative surgical system (ERSS) team, attached to three nontraditional maritime medical receiving platforms, over 6 months. Significant variations were identified in the number of screened eligible donors, the number of LTOWB donors, and the timely arrival at WBB activation sites between the platforms. Overall, 95% and 84% of the screened eligible group O blood donors on the Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer (DDG) and Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier (CVN), respectively, were determined to be LTOWB. However, only 37% of the eligible screened group O blood donors aboard the Harper's Ferry Class Dock Landing Ship (LSD) were found to be LTOWB. Of the eligible donors, 66% did not complete screening, with 52% citing a correctable reason for nonparticipation. LTOWB attained through WBBs may be the only practical resuscitative fluid on maritime platforms without inherent blood product storage capabilities to perform remote damage control resuscitation. Future efforts should focus on optimizing WBBs through capability development, education, and training efforts.

Leo Marriott, Images of War: Essex Class Aircraft Carriers, 1943-1991 by Charles Ross Patterson II

Leo Marriott, Images of War: Essex Class Aircraft Carriers, 1943-1991 by Charles Ross Patterson II

HULLFORM & HYDRODYNAMIC CONSIDERATIONS IN THE DESIGN OF THE UK FUTURE AIRCRAFT CARRIER (CVF)

An overview is provided of the manner in which hydrodynamic and hullform-related design considerations were addressed in the development of the BAE SYSTEMS team’s design proposal for the UK Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF). It also outlines how broader design considerations such as aviation, survivability and supportability requirements influenced these aspects of the design. A summary is also provided of some of the more detailed requirements development, option assessment and performance evaluation work that has been undertaken. The aircraft carrier designs discussed in this paper correspond to the BAE SYSTEMS team’s final design submission as it stood in January 2003, at the time it was discontinued by the UK Ministry of Defence, in favour of the rival Thales / BMT team design that has since been developed into the UK Royal Navy’s new ‘Queen Elizabeth’ class aircraft carrier. This final BAE SYSTEMS design submission consisted of two distinct design variants - one configured to operate a CTOL-based air group, the other configured to accommodate a STOVL air group. Both variants were based on a common ‘core’ ship design. The discussion presented in this paper is applicable to both variants.

Piloted Flight Simulation of Helicopter Recovery to the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier

This Paper describes how flight simulation has been used to investigate helicopter recovery operations to the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the United Kingdom’s new aircraft carrier. A helicopter flight simulation environment has been developed in which the unsteady airflow over the ship has been created using full-scale computational fluid dynamics. A six-degree-of-freedom motion flight simulator has been used to conduct real-time piloted deck landings where a helicopter flight dynamics model representative of a Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk helicopter was recovered to the designated rotorcraft landing spots toward the stern of the ship. A test pilot was instructed to land the helicopter and to give workload ratings for the difficulty of the task when flying in relative winds from Ahead, and 45 deg and 90 deg from starboard. The workload ratings, along with the corresponding pilot control activity and helicopter positional accuracy, are discussed in relation to the airflow to which the helicopter was subjected. The Paper demonstrates how flight simulation could be used to support flight trials and helicopter clearance activities but also notes that real-world trials data are needed to compare with the simulations before the techniques can be beneficially deployed.

Computational and experimental modelling study of the unsteady airflow over the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth

This paper describes a comprehensive experimental and computational modelling study of the aerodynamic environment around the UK's new Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers. The study has been performed to support the integration of the F-35B Lightning II multi-role fighter with the UK Royal Navy's flagship, HMS Queen Elizabeth. Unsteady airwakes have been generated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and have been incorporated into the F-35/QEC Integration Flight Simulator at BAE Systems Warton and into the HELIFLIGHT-R research simulator at the University of Liverpool.A small-scale experiment has also been conducted in which a 1.4 m long (1:200) scale model of the QEC was submerged in a water channel and Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry was used to measure the unsteady flow around the ship. Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation CFD was used to model the flow in the water channel and the computed unsteady flow field has been compared with the experimental measurements. The results show generally excellent agreement between the model-scale experiment and CFD. Building on this, full-scale 30-s CFD airwakes have been generated for the nearfield area surrounding the QEC, and for about 400 m astern of the ship to capture the disturbed air flow along the fixed-wing approach glideslope.

Hullform & Hydrodynamic Considerations in the Design of the UK Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF)

An overview is provided of the manner in which hydrodynamic and hullform-related design considerations were addressed in the development of the BAE SYSTEMS team’s design proposal for the UK Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF). It also outlines how broader design considerations such as aviation, survivability and supportability requirements influenced these aspects of the design. A summary is also provided of some of the more detailed requirements development, option assessment and performance evaluation work that has been undertaken. The aircraft carrier designs discussed in this paper correspond to the BAE SYSTEMS team’s final design submission as it stood in January 2003, at the time it was discontinued by the UK Ministry of Defence, in favour of the rival Thales / BMT team design that has since been developed into the UK Royal Navy’s new ‘Queen Elizabeth’ class aircraft carrier. This final BAE SYSTEMS design submission consisted of two distinct design variants - one configured to operate a CTOL-based air group, the other configured to accommodate a STOVL air group. Both variants were based on a common ‘core’ ship design. The discussion presented in this paper is applicable to both variants. This paper was originally written for presentation at the June 2003 Royal Institution of Naval Architects ‘Warships 2003 - Air Power at Sea’ Conference. However, it was withheld from publication at the request of the UK Ministry of Defence, due to sensitivity surrounding the UK Aircraft Carrier project at that time. Following re-appraisal in June 2016, the UK Ministry of Defence has now authorised publication of this paper in full. The paper is presented here in its original (2003) form, with Section 2 added to provide historical perspective (given the passage of time).

Aircraft engines: a proud heritage and an exciting future

SUMMARYThe 150th anniversary of the Royal Aeronautical Society has seen Rolls-Royce become a global player in aerospace and a champion of British industry. Its products vary from the nimble RR300, powering two-seater helicopters, all the way to the 97,000-pound thrust Trent XWB, powering future variants of the Airbus A350, and the MT30, which provides the propulsion for the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. It has built this range of products derived from the vision and innovation of its talented engineers, spurred on by the guiding principles provided by Henry Royce. This has seen it through times of war, hardship, bankruptcy and fierce competition to emerge as the leading manufacturer of aircraft engines and a provider of power across land and sea. Alongside its products, it has developed pioneering services to support its customers, analysing real-time data to improve the reliability and efficiency of its engines. In keeping with its tradition of innovation, the company is continuing to develop new products and services for the next generation of power systems for land, sea and air.

Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Aircraft Carrier build: material selection

The Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers is the largest UK Royal Navy contract ever built. It was developed in response to having an aging fleet of three aircraft carriers, which were in recent ...

Materials selection for current and future UK naval requirements

In recent years, naval shipbuilding in the UK has been given a significant boost with the Type 45 destroyer programme and the Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carrier programme. Both these programmes raised a number of new issues with regard to the rolled materials used in their construction. The Type 45 programme focused heavily on the use of higher strength steel to reduce weight, which in itself generated other challenges from the use of thin plate. Significant issues about residual stresses became evident through the construction phase and also through some joint academic studies. The QEC programme utilised some of the material concepts developed on Type 45, but included the need to use a higher strength steel on the flight deck and the hanger deck. Specific areas of the vessels are subject to through thickness tensile stresses and almost 3000 t of plate are Z grade. Within that, a small proportion is required to meet a 60°C toughness requirement, in certain areas. This has led on to a more wide ranging review of currently available materials and their potential application within naval shipbuilding. The use of still higher strength steels has been considered in a number of thickness ranges and their potential for blast resistance is being assessed.

Carriers underway [Aircraft carriers design

In this paper, the UK's new aircraft carriers are taking shape in an artificial world that looks out over the sea high above Portsmouth, England. The work being done at the QE Class MS Integration facility at Portsdown Technology Park will make sure that the new Queen Elizabeth (QE) Class Aircraft Carriers, currently under construction in shipyards across the UK, will be state of the art and fully integrated with the new F-35 Lightning II when the aircraft is delivered. The QE Class MS team are involved in a three-year programme of visualisation and experimentation to reduce cost through risk mitigation by integrating real, maturing and prototype systems with assistance from their developersworking in partnership with the MoD and Navy to iron out any problems at an early stage. The facility is also designed to evolve to enable the integration of delivered systems prior to their installation on the carriers.

Hearing health risk in a population of aircraft carrier flight deck personnel.

This study evaluated the risk to hearing health associated with duty on the flight deck of a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Descriptive data includes time-weighted average noise exposure and an evaluation of temporary threshold shift for a group of nonaviator flight deck personnel (FD), and a comparison of accrued permanent threshold shift among three shipboard occupational groups that had been matched for years of military service. The study participants included 76 FD personnel in a high-exposure group, 77 engineers in a moderate-exposure group, and 52 administrative personnel who were considered to have low occupational noise exposure. The study found a mean FD time weighted average of 109 dBA over workdays averaging 11.5 hours. Only 2 (4%) of 52 administrative personnel had any appreciable hearing loss (defined as worse than 20 dB at any frequency 1,000 through 4,000 Hz), whereas FD and engineers demonstrated 17% and 27% hearing impairment, respectively.

Carrier decisions

One of the major procurement decisions for the Armed Forces in the next few years will concern the replacement of the country's existing INVINCIBLE class aircraft carriers and their aircraft. Here Lieutenant Commander Stocker looks at the issues involved concluding that notwithstanding the outcome of the Strategic Defence Review continued maritime air power is essential to Britain's post Cold War military force structure The concept of sea‐basing significant land and air capabilities is also examined in the light of the current emphasis on Joint operations in the Littoral environment.