HMS Prince of Wales

[OtherBusiness]

And she’s off…

[valiant]

Yep, saw that.

Was sitting waiting for the ferry over to the iow and lo and behold, the POW cruises past.

Quite a sight.

Edited by valiant on Friday 1st September 15:39

Edited by valiant on Friday 1st September 15:40

[Cold]

Quite an interesting voyage to the USA this one. Drones and their increased capabilities are to be tested alongside the F35 and Osprey.
Not only will the various drones be testing the delivery of missiles/bombs they will also be experimenting with replenishment at sea in conjunction with the RFA.

The F35 will continue the development of landing/take off techniques which allow heavier and faster landings and they will be seeking out heavy seas to practice returning to the ship under less than ideal conditions.

She should be back home by Christmas.

[98elise]

normalbloke said:

98elise said:

OtherBusiness said:

She’s leaving at 1330 today, and both are currently in.

Where are ship movements posted? I like to see one of them leave, and also see them both in harbour at some point.

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/khm/portsmouth/shipping-movements

Thanks

[aeropilot]

Cold said:

She should be back home by Christmas.

Or before if its breaks down again......

[98elise]

Cold said:

Quite an interesting voyage to the USA this one. Drones and their increased capabilities are to be tested alongside the F35 and Osprey.
Not only will the various drones be testing the delivery of missiles/bombs they will also be experimenting with replenishment at sea in conjunction with the RFA.

The F35 will continue the development of landing/take off techniques which allow heavier and faster landings and they will be seeking out heavy seas to practice returning to the ship under less than ideal conditions.

She should be back home by Christmas.

RAS is a routine operation for RN/RFA ships.

[hidetheelephants]

98elise said:

Cold said:

Quite an interesting voyage to the USA this one. Drones and their increased capabilities are to be tested alongside the F35 and Osprey.
Not only will the various drones be testing the delivery of missiles/bombs they will also be experimenting with replenishment at sea in conjunction with the RFA.

The F35 will continue the development of landing/take off techniques which allow heavier and faster landings and they will be seeking out heavy seas to practice returning to the ship under less than ideal conditions.

She should be back home by Christmas.

RAS is a routine operation for RN/RFA ships.

I think the experimental aspect is using BFO drones for vertrep rather than helicopters.

[aeropilot]

hidetheelephants said:

98elise said:

Cold said:

Quite an interesting voyage to the USA this one. Drones and their increased capabilities are to be tested alongside the F35 and Osprey.
Not only will the various drones be testing the delivery of missiles/bombs they will also be experimenting with replenishment at sea in conjunction with the RFA.

The F35 will continue the development of landing/take off techniques which allow heavier and faster landings and they will be seeking out heavy seas to practice returning to the ship under less than ideal conditions.

She should be back home by Christmas.

RAS is a routine operation for RN/RFA ships.

I think the experimental aspect is using BFO drones for vertrep rather than helicopters.

Correct.
Its the only option for long range because we are not going to buy Osprey.

[Cold]

98elise said:

RAS is a routine operation for RN/RFA ships.

The key point being the drones this time out rather than using manned aircraft. Up to 100kgs per flight initially.

[ecsrobin]

Any links for the drone?

[98elise]

hidetheelephants said:

98elise said:

Cold said:

Quite an interesting voyage to the USA this one. Drones and their increased capabilities are to be tested alongside the F35 and Osprey.
Not only will the various drones be testing the delivery of missiles/bombs they will also be experimenting with replenishment at sea in conjunction with the RFA.

The F35 will continue the development of landing/take off techniques which allow heavier and faster landings and they will be seeking out heavy seas to practice returning to the ship under less than ideal conditions.

She should be back home by Christmas.

RAS is a routine operation for RN/RFA ships.

I think the experimental aspect is using BFO drones for vertrep rather than helicopters.

Thanks. I didn't make the link between testing drones and RAS.

[Cold]

ecsrobin said:

Any links for the drone?

Both the RN and RFA are working with:
https://wautonomoussystems.org/drones/

The explosives drone being trialled is a Mojave.

[ecsrobin]

Cold said:

Both the RN and RFA are working with:
https://wautonomoussystems.org/drones/

The explosives drone being trialled is a Mojave.

What RFA ship can they launch that drone from I assume it’s not a catapult so requires a decent sized deck? The site also doesn’t say if the 150m take off distance is full load. But makes sense to go down the drone route for this.

So Mojave is a STOL version of a Reaper?

[Cold]

I don't know the full details. However, the replenishment trials will be done while HMS PWLS is still in The Channel so perhaps any drone flights will originate from land to begin with? Pure speculation on my part.

As for the Mojave, yes it's a new gen STOL drone being trialled to see how it copes on the relatively short runway (280mtr) of the carriers. Hopefully they won't get wet.


This isn't the first time PWLS has trialled drones. Previously the QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+ has been flown from the deck. It had its own catapult/ramp type affair to aid launch.

[xeny]

Where did they put that - towards the bow next to the existing fixed ramp structure?

[Cold]

[ecsrobin]

[normalbloke]

It’s not a pretty thing is it?

[Simpo Two]

Hmm, so we have one of the biggest most expensive aircraft carriers in the world, and they land toy planes on it. You don't need an aircraft carrier for that. Enter a new class - the drone carrier? A titchy frigate could do it, just pop a flat bit on it.

[98elise]

Simpo Two said:

Hmm, so we have one of the biggest most expensive aircraft carriers in the world, and they land toy planes on it. You don't need an aircraft carrier for that. Enter a new class - the drone carrier? A titchy frigate could do it, just pop a flat bit on it.

Odd comment.

They also fly helicopters from aircraft carriers and you can fit those on a frigate without modification.