There are eight Harriers on the front line at Kandahar in
Afghanistan where they must be kept operational all day, every day. The
aircraft are deployed from RAF Cottesmore for six to eight months and
after 720 flying hours they are returned to base for maintenance,
upgrades and UORs (urgent operational requirements) such as the Sniper
pod.
Qinetiq has been awarded a Ministry of
Defence contract to oversee and approve upgrades to the Harrier fleet
until it goes out of service in 2018. The GR9, serving with the RAF and
the RN, will be replaced by the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter
which is due to enter service in 2012.
Future RN Carrier News
The BAE Systems and the VT (Vosper Thorneycroft)
Group joint venture, BVT, a key part of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance,
has been awarded the contract for the Royal Navy's new aircraft
carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, to be the
largest naval vessels ever built in Britain. On 3 July the
Minister for defence equipment and Support, the Rt. Hon. Baroness
Taylor, signed the contract covering the programme management,
shipbuilding, integration and trials of the two carriers, on board HMS
Ark Royal in Portsmouth. The Chief Executive of the newly formed BVT is
Alan Johnston, formerly Managing Director of Augusta-Westland. It is
planned that the F-35B will operate from the new carriers
