Ford class super-carriers are being built to replace some of the United States Navy's
existing Nimitz-class carriers from 2017.
The first ship of this class is GERALD R. FORD.
The ships of this class are expected to be in service with the US Navy till 2065.
The QUEEN ELIZABETH class is a class of two aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom's
Royal Navy.
The first, HMS Queen Elizabeth has commissioning planned for late 2017,and an initial operating
capability expected in 2018.
The second, HMS Prince of Wales, is scheduled for commissioning in 2020.
Both of these represent the some of the best engineering of our times.
In this video, Defense Updates compares the two carriers on the basis of 5 important parameters
& draws an unbiased conclusion
So, lets get started.
In May 1997, the newly elected Labour government of UK launched the Strategic Defense Review
which re-evaluated every weapon system (active or in procurement) with the exception of the
Eurofighter Typhoon and the Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines.
One of the important outcomes of the report was that the government intended to replace
the current carrier force with two larger vessels capable of deploying up to 50 aircraft,
including helicopters.
This decision ultimately led to the development of Queen Elizabeth class carrier.
The FORD class aircraft carriers were designed to be improvements on previous U.S. aircraft
carriers, in particular the Nimitz class.
The carriers have been envisaged to be more efficient and future proof with capability
to integrate most modern technologies.
Like all 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, Gerald R. Ford is constructed at Newport News
Shipbuilding Company, Virginia, in the largest dry-dock in the western hemisphere.
Ford-class displaces about 100,000 tons and spans 337 meters long, where as Queen Elizabeth-class
displaces 70,000 tons and has a length of 280 meters.
The numbers bear out the fact that the both are super carriers but Ford is significantly larger.
Size has undeniable impact on the capability of any aircraft carrier as it determines the
number of aircrafts that it can operate.
Queen Elizabeth-air wing of 50 fighters falls well short of Ford class capability to hold
over 70 jets.
It can be easily inferred that Ford has a distinct advantage over Queen Elizabeth in this parameter
Queen Elizabeth-class has an engine configuration as follows:
2 × Rolls-Royce Marine Trent MT30, 36 MW (48,000 hp) gas turbine engine
4 × Wärtsilä 38, 11.6 MW (15,600 hp) marine diesel engines
It has a speed in excess of 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) and range of 10,000 nautical miles
Ford-class carrier has 2 Bechtel A1B nuclear reactors are installed.
Each one these are capable of producing 300 MW of electricity
Ford has maximum speed of over 30 knots (56 km/h.) and practically unlimited rang as it
is capable of operating continuously for over 20 years without refueling.
The non-nuclear propulsion limits the Queen Elizabeth-class range.
Clearly Ford class has huge advantage in terms of propulsion technology, and Queen Elizabeth
is no match for it in this category.
The Queen Elizabeth will have F-35B Lightning II as the fighter aircraft.
It will also have the Chinook, Apache AH64, Merlin HM2 and HC4, Wildcat AH1 and HMA2 and
Merlin Crowsnest AEW
The Ford class will embark F-35C Lightning II and F 18 Super Hornets as fighter aircrafts.
It will also carry EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets, E-2D Hawkeye airborne early-warning
and control aircraft, and C-2 Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) planes.
Apart from these MH-60S Seahawk helicopters will be also present.
The Ford has better combination of fighters with versatile F 18 Super Hornets being onboard
apart from stealthy F 35s, which are present in both.
Also it has EA-18G Growler which is very important in modern combat scenarios as well as own
AEW&C aircraft in the form of E-2D Hawkeye.
Advantage goes to Ford class in this parameter.
Aircraft carriers are very costly and must be designed to have long service lives.
For the carrier to be effective throughout the service life, it has to be enhanced with
new technologies.
One of important constraints in incorporating new technologies is the onboard power availability.
The total power available for Queen Elizabeth class is around 115 MW.
One of the main reasons for America to build Ford class was to have more onboard power.
Ford class has in total 600 MW of electricity, triple the 200 MW Nimitz-class and more than
5 times that of Queen Elizabeth class.
The huge power supply provides legroom, required for future expansions like inducting Laser
Guns and Electromagnetic Rail Guns.
As evident Ford has huge advantage in this regards.
The cost of each of Queen Elizabeth class is $ 4.5 billion USD where as the Ford class
costs $12.8 billion USD.
So for the cost of 1 Ford class, 3 Queen Elizabeth can be deployed.
That is a massive difference and Queen Elizabeth class wins hands down.
This also signifies the financial capability of United States to fund such massive expenses.
It must be noted that according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI),
United Kingdom spent about 48.3 billion USD in 2016, whereas US spend around 611 billion
USD in the same period.
The two classes of aircraft carriers are customized according to the specific needs of the respective countries.
UK and US being allies, these two massively powerful platforms are not expected to come
face to face in battlefield.
America has gone for the latest and greatest technologies with their
massive financial muscle.
Britain has gone with adequately modern stuff though they have slashed few things that they
would have really like to have.
One on one Ford class is distinctively superior the Queen Elizabeth class.
With rapidly changing technologies, things can get obsolete quicker than expected, like
what happened to battleships.
Keeping in view the path chosen by UK is rational with the kind of defense budget it currently has.
US has been in the forefront of military technology and will continue to be so in
foreseeable future.
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