Rotary-Wing Assets Vital for UK Carrier Protection

摘要

Britain's Royal Navy is pushing to have two vital rotary-wing programs ready for when its first Carrier Strike Group (CSG21) sets sail for the Par East in 2021. Both the Crowsnest helicopter-borne early warning system and the arming of the naval version of the Leonardo AW159 Wildcat are vital components in the protection of the UK's new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. But both programs have fallen behind schedule. Crowsnest, which fits Thales' Searchwater 2000 radar onto the navy's Leonardo EH/AW101 Merlin Mk. 2 anti-submarine warfare helicopters as a roll-on/h)ll-off kit, was due to be ready by year-end. But it has emerged in procurement reports that the program will now only "deliver an incremental capability" to support CSG21. Also, plans to fit both MBDAs Sea Venom anti-ship missile and the Thales Light Multirole Missile (the Sea Martlet) onto the Wildcat have been affected by issues with the weapons and their integration onto the helicopter.