As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...
When HMS Illustrious recently embarked US Harriers and
played an equal role with the biggest ships in the US Navy,
the crew were learning how to run the super- carriers of
the future.
Steaming through the choppy seas off the eastern seaboard
of the United States in the company of the US Navy's
gargantuan carriers 'Dwight D Eisenhower', or'Ike', and
'Harry S Truman', HMS Illustrious lookeddownright tiny.
But notwithstanding the difference in deadweight - 20,000
tonnes compared to the Ike's 100,000-plus tonnes - Britain's
compact little strike carrier was holding her head up at a
jaunty angle and playing happily with the big boys.
Leading a flotilla of five US cruisers and destroyers in
the Americans' annual shakedown exercise for major
ships, Illustrious was hosting 14 US Marine Corps AV-8A
Harriers, with some 200 aircrew and support staff. The
ship was commanding one flank of the fleet while
coordinating theoretical shipping controls and air strikes.
It was a very significant role, and important to both sides,
a fact which the Ike and the Truman acknowledged as
they tipped their hats to the British by manoeuvring
into line a thousand yards or so astern of Illustrious for a
gargantuan game of follow-my-leader.
So who did Illustrious think she was? A supercarrier?
Well, actually, in a way, yes. Many of the key personnel
aboard this 1970s vintage mini-flat-top had been tasked
to rehearse the role of the future British supercarriers,
HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, ships
that now seem to be more of a promise than a possibility.
Illustrious can do this because since being re-classed
from her original air protection and anti-submarine role
to that of a strike carrier supporting land operations,
she is doing the job which will eventually be that of the
supercarriers.
The lessons of big carrier operations being learned on this
exercise, and fed into teams at Fleet HQ and MOD, will
be invaluable to the men and women who are preparing
for the arrival of the supercarriers seven to ten years
from now.
The learning curve is, however, not only about thinking
big. The post Cold War and post 9/11 British doctrine of
expeditionarywarfare depends as much on versatility
and understanding howcoalition partners - principally
the Americans - think andcommunicate, as it does on
kit. Future naval and air operations maybe interwoven
to such an extent that foreign aircraft will conduct
operations from British decks, and vice versa.
It all amounts to the biggest sea change in naval
operations forgenerations, and Illustrious is in the
vanguard. Sitting in his plush accommodation at the
stern of his flag ship, Commodore AllanRichards, the
commander of the UK carrier strike group (which
included several American cruisers and destroyers),
appreciated this:
"We know what the challenges are," said the Commo-
dore. "We are working very closely with the US Navy
and the US Marine Corps to ensure that our people are
learning big carrier operations. We have exchanges of
posts with the big carrier groups so that our people can
get a feel for those decks.
"We've set up the staff early so we can train a gener-
ation in the way of thinking about projecting force from
the air. And we have already looked at how we are going
to staff the big ships."
"This is a great opportunity for us to cooperate as a
proper strike group. We are operating with another
nation which uses different procedures. But that is OK
because we need to stretch ourselves if we are going to
operate to the right tempo in times of conflict." Captain
Tim FraserOn the bridge, Illustrious's Commanding
Officer, Captain Tim Fraser, seemed to be rather enjoy-
ing the challenge of accommodating 200 American
Marines and their 14 Harriers:
"This is a great opportunity for us to cooperate as a
proper strike group," he said, exhibiting a broad grin.
"We are operating with another nation which uses
different procedures. But that is OK because we need to
stretch ourselves if we are going to operate to the right
tempo in times of conflict."
The US Marine Corps pilots are as gung-ho as Holly-
wood would haveyou believe. Illustrious's deck crews
and traffic controllers had sweated over 76 landings and
take-offs in one day; a number that was not exceeded
even when sister ship HMS Invincible went to war in the
Falklands.
The deck crews had to get used to refuelling Harriers
while theirengines were still running, which is not stand-
ard British procedure. And both sides had to make sure
that flight deck safety was not jeopardised by that
'common language'.
"Across the whole spectrum - equipment, personnel,
sustainability and training - we are making a significant
contribution to a new way of working," said Captain Fraser.
"If we carried on using our aircraft carriers the way we were,
we would , undoubtedly, fall on our backsides when the big
carriers arrive."
And that would be more than embarrassing. Commander
Henry Mitchell, a senior Harrier pilot who bears the
official title 'Wings' and presided over all flight deck
operations, was unequivocal:
"The UK has declared itself as having an expeditionary
ambition. My view is that if we do not get the new carriers,
we will have to re-write the country's entire foreign policy.
Ninety per cent of your kit goes to a theatre by sea. Who
would protect it for you? And you can't have an amphibious
capability without air power."
But such concerns were not to be dwelt on. The Marines
continuedto fling themselves off the deck with indecent
haste, and 'Wings' was enjoying it:
"We have said for years that in the future we expect to
do things as a coalition, and we have taken the process a
step further on," he said. "We are now operating not just
as a coalition of ships, but as a coalition within a ship.
This is where the rubber hits the road."
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