Aircraft Carriers

[Weaver]

Sorry, but I have to disagree.

The big dome is the Type 963 CCA  (AN/SPN 35)

The wide "hayrake" is Type 982 long-range air-control radar as seen on Sailsbury class frigates

The "bedsteads" are Type 965 AKE-2 long range air search radars

The oval dish between the hayrake and the aft bedstead is the Type 983 height finder

I don't know what the drum-shaped radome is, but it definately isn't Type 275, which consisted of a manned director with two 4ft dishes either side of it.

[Thorvic]

The drum on the end of the Island is the original TACAN as fitted to all RN jet carrying aircraft, Ark Royal had the US system in the dome aft of the Island fitted

[McColm]

I've managed to glue two Airfix 1/144 SRN-4 hovercraft kits together in length, giving an extra 60mm in length and sctratch built the deck parts. The cargo hold doesn't have a roof so I can fit several 1/144 Harriers inside, thus making it an operational aircraft carrier.

[PR19_Kit]

I've managed to glue two Airfix 1/144 SRN-4 hovercraft kits together in length, giving an extra 60mm in length and sctratch built the deck parts. The cargo hold doesn't have a roof so I can fit several 1/144 Harriers inside, thus making it an operational aircraft carrier.

Where are you going to mount the props if there isn't a roof for them to sit on?

[McColm]

The car deck is exposed to the elements, everything else is enclosed. I've added details; such as the seats to the front areas. The rear has been re-worked and there are four verticle fins, used for steering-instead of the usual two. Each turbo propellor has eight blades or I could go with a jet podded engine attatched to each side for thrust.

[McColm]

269 parts x2.
Got some left over to add to my spares box.

[GTX]

Russia to build nuclear aircraft carrier by 2023

© RIA Novosti. Oleg Lastochkin
11:20 30/06/2011
ST PETERSBURG, June 30 (RIA Novosti)

Russia will complete construction of its first nuclear powered aircraft carrier by 2023, the head of Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation said on Thursday.

"We will start designing the Russian aircraft carrier in 2016, so that by 2018 we can start construction," company head Roman Trotsenko said.

He also said that as the construction period was likely to be five years, the carrier would be put into service in 2023.

The Russian navy has one conventionally powered aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, construction of which began during the Soviet era and finished in the early 1990s.

President Dmitry Medvedev said in 2008 that Russia would build new carriers for the navy but did not specify how they would be powered.

[sequoiaranger]

icchan said: >Idly, bouncing back to page 1, on the thoughts of catamaran carriers...So what if you could get two hulls, space them about 8m apart, and build a hangar deck and flight deck replacing the existing superstructure? Maybe uncompleted wartime production hulls retasked...The concept would be to assemble something with a lot of deck space.<

I conceptualized something like that in "Furashita's Fleet" at:

http://www.combinedfleet.com/furashita/nibai_f.htm

But how well it would work in practice is anyone's guess. I worked ferries on San Francisco Bay (California) and catamaran ferries became "standard" and did a good job---they were fast, steady, and suprisingly manuverable. I don't know how much "scaling up" could be done for ocean-going heavy vessels.

[rickshaw]

Loads of stresses between the two hulls which that deck would have to absorb.  Modern cats are designed from the ground up and utilise techniques similar to bridge building to link the two hulls.  Simply plonking two existing hulls side-by-side and building a deck between them would, I think be rather challenging, particularly on the scales that you're discussing.   It would need to more than likely need to be stripped down to the main strength deck and rebuilt from there with a completely new set of upper decks utilising cantilever principles and still might be too weak to survive a heavy sea.

[Joe C-P]

Russia to build nuclear aircraft carrier by 2023

One nuclear carrier does not a fleet make. It'll be a showpiece. But that doesn't mean it won't be interesting!
The design will be interesting. Do they finally go with catapults, or another ski-jump? Maybe both?
Will it be US CVN in size, or more like the French de Gaulle?
What aircraft will be in service then?

[Thorvic]

One nuclear carrier does not a fleet make. It'll be a showpiece. But that doesn't mean it won't be interesting!
The design will be interesting. Do they finally go with catapults, or another ski-jump? Maybe both?
Will it be US CVN in size, or more like the French de Gaulle?
What aircraft will be in service then?

Given the two year design period allocated i suspect they are using the Ulyanovsk design which was under consruction at the end of the cold war as a basis for the new carrier hull and use the design period to modernise the nuclear propulsion, possibly switch to an EMALS type catapults and redesign the island, sensor suite and armament in line with more mosern systems. Aircraft wise it will most likley be a Naval type of the Pak-FA or rather the FGFA being worked on with India who also have a Naval requirement.

Other aircraft are a different matter, will the work on a new Yak-44, will they get Hawkeye, have they plans for an F-35C competitor, or will thay by that time be able to purchase direct from the US ?.

Interesting build potential aint it 

[Jschmus]

"We will start designing the carrier in 2016" it says.  If they're going to build a new carrier in twelve years, shouldn't they start the design work now, the better to iron out all the inevitable wrinkles?

[rickshaw]

"We will start designing the carrier in 2016" it says.  If they're going to build a new carrier in twelve years, shouldn't they start the design work now, the better to iron out all the inevitable wrinkles?

Might be that they aren't able to do so at the moment.  No money, no designers who are qualified, etc.  They're more than likely waiting for the money to be allocated and the government has decided they can afford it then, not now.

[Thorvic]

Even so a 2 yr design process for a ship that large and complex pretty much indicates making a great deal of use of an exisiting approved & tested design as a basis.

Another angle to consider is that the Indian Navy has a long term goal for IAC3 as a long term replacment for their modified Baku which they will receive next year. They recently put the requirement on a slow down to focus on the rest of the surface & submarine fleet, but could well be planning to put their requirement in-line with the Russia.

[jcf]

He probably means they hope to start detail design in 2016 to enable start of construction in 2018.
A whole lot of configuration decisions will have to made and loads of preliminary design work will have
to be done to support the final configuration. Once that is done they can get on with the 'design'.

Realistically, while it seems like it years out, that's a pretty sporty schedule for a brand new nuclear powered vessel,
or as Geoff has suggested, they have some pre-existing work they are going to draw upon.