Innehållsförteckning för Issue 11 från War at Sea

CARRIERS provide military forces with the ability to project combat power from floating airfields across the worlds’ ocean. With their embarked force of fighter aircraft, they can demonstrate political intent, support humanitarian operations and if needed launch a kinetic attack on an adversary. In the 21st century, the so called ‘carrier club’ is small, but growing. The United States and the United Kingdom field the newest and biggest carriers in the world. China has joined the carrier club and is building more along with India, France, Egypt, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and Spain. Thailand retains a carrier in service but it is not regarded as an operational platform. Russia has a powerful naval air force, but its sole carrier, the Kuznetsov, is outdated and limited in its…

Today, in the 21st Century, naval warfare is multidimensional. The days of sea fighting being restricted to open battles between warships on the high seas are gone. The fleets of today fight on the sea, in the air above, and in the waters below. But combat aircraft remain dominant, they provide the ability to control the air-space – a vital factor in support of amphibious missions, regional conflicts and naval operations. While the post-war years witnessed an initial reduction in western naval assets, the expansion of the Soviet Union and their seven Warsaw Pact satellite states forced politicians in Europe and the United States to focus on defence investment. On 3 December 1945, a jet powered twin boom aircraft called the Sea Vampire made the first ever ‘jet landing’ on…

Close behind the Super Hornet is the Dassault Rafale, a French twinengine aircraft with a delta wing and multirole capability – designed by Dassault Aviation. The Rafale is intended to deliver air supremacy, in the area of interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and if required nuclear deterrence missions. In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and Navy were seeking to replace and consolidate their current fleets of aircraft. In order to reduce development costs and boost prospective sales, France entered into an arrangement with UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to produce an agile multi-purpose fighter, which became known as the Eurofighter Typhoon. Subsequent disagreements over workshare and differing requirements led to France’s pursuit of its own development program. Dassault built a technology demonstrator which first…

While planners see the main force of fighter aircraft being manned, there is growing evidence of a requirement for an unmanned fighter capability with critics saying, it will be to the Navy’s detriment if the future generation fighter program delivers a manned fighter for the Navy, adding that designing a nextgeneration manned aircraft will be a critical mistake. Every year remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) replace more and more manned aviation platforms, and artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming ever increasingly capable. By the mid-2030s, when the F-35C will still be in operation, the next platform is expected to begin production. In order to make sure the Navy maintains the technical edge in aviation, it needs, experts claim, to invest in an unmanned-capable aircraft today. Recent advances and long-term trends in automation…

The aircraft was promoted overseas but by 1983, India was the only operator other than Britain. Both Argentina and Australia declined to invest in the aircraft. The decision by the Buenos Aires government was significant as UK pilots may have faced a much formidable enemy had the Navy been equipped with the Harrier. A second, upgraded version for the Royal Navy delivered in 1993 and listed as the Sea Harrier FA2, improving its air-to-air abilities and weapons compatibilities, along with a more powerful engine. But despite the overwhelming qualities of the Harrier and without any replacement at the time, the UK government made the decision – on what appears to have been financial reasons – to withdraw the aircraft from service with the Royal Navy in 2006. The Indian Navy…

Everything in the United States is done on a grander, bigger and more spectacular scale than anywhere else in the world and it is true of their naval museums too. America is the world’s premier naval superpower and has held the title since the end of the Second World War, in those intervening years the USA has been at war, be it against Russia in the Cold War, against North Korean forces, Communists in Vietnam, insurgencies in the Caribbean, against tyrants in the Gulf or even against terrorism. For a nation that has spent the last eight decades policing the world, it has spent billions producing countless numbers of warships of all types, classes and specialities, the vast majority of these ships end their days being torn apart by scrap…