The British Carrier Strike Fleet. David Hobbs

The British Carrier Strike Fleet - David Hobbs


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a complete blind firing/visual display allied to varying types of radar for the firing of air-to-air weapons including guided weapons. A new high-frequency radio set, ARI 18032, was introduced in 1954 with gapless cover out to 160 miles specifically for use in the Gannet. Late in the 1950s military aircraft changed from VHF to UHF short-range communications in common with the rest of NATO and a British version of the American AN/ARC 52 radio set was adopted for use.

A Gannet AS 4 of 814 NAS on...

      A Gannet AS 4 of 814 NAS on anti-submarine patrol with its ASV-19B radar dome lowered. The type’s large bomb bay can be seen forward of the radome. (Author’s collection)

      Radars were available in a considerable variety by 1954, some of the air-intercept types having been designed for the RRE at Pershore with no specific aircraft type in mind. Those of interest to the Naval Staff included ASV-19B which was fitted to the Gannet AS 1 and ASV-21, an improved version intended for use in the Gannet AS 4 from 1958. The latter had a 150 KW transmitter and a 9in ground-stabilised display on which sono-buoy beacons could be displayed. It was also intended as the target indication radar for the Green Cheese stand-off bomb. It was an ‘X’ band equipment with all round coverage capable of detecting a submarine snort at 12 miles in a calm sea state. AN/APS-20A was the American-designed search radar originally fitted to the Skyraider AEW 1. These sets were being upgraded to AN/APS-20C standard which was capable of detecting a destroyer-sized surface contact at 120 miles. A more powerful derivative, the AN/APS-20E was being procured to equip the future AEW aircraft which emerged as the Gannet AEW 3.

      Air-intercept radars included AI Mark 10, a basic set that equipped the Sea Venom FAW 20; it was unstabilised but gave a satisfactory performance. AI Mark 17 was developed as insurance in case insufficient USN AN/APS-57 sets were provided under MDAP to equip the Sea Venom FAW 21. It was an ‘S’ band set with blind firing facilities and was chosen to equip the Sea Venom FAW 53 for the RAN. AI Mark 18 was a more advanced set under development under a joint Naval/Air Staff requirement; its naval application was to be in the DH 110. Progress was divided into two distinct phases, the first for the basic radar with blind fire facilities which was not taken into service and a second with addition of attack and missile firing computers which did, eventually, go into service with the Sea Vixen after 1958.

      AI Mark 20 was a speculative set intended to allow single-seat fighters to carry out day and night interceptions at high altitude in clear weather. By 1954 it was realised that visual detection ranges from the cockpits of high-speed fighters at altitude were insufficient to give pilots time to get into a firing position and radar guidance for what had previously been considered as purely visual interception techniques was considered essential. AI-20 was required to be simple enough for a pilot to use without assistance from a specialised observer and was intended to complement radar interceptions when the direction officer initiated the turn onto the enemy’s 6 o’clock position. The Naval Staff planned to use it in later versions of the Scimitar but, in the event, their development was cancelled in 1957.

      AI Mark 21 was the UK designation allocated to the American AN/APS-57 air-intercept radar which was, itself, a simplified version of the AN/APQ-35 radar-guided fire-control system. AI 21 lacked target lock-on and blind fire capability but was an improvement over the AI 10 and was fitted to the Sea Venom FAW 21. Another speculative design was AI Mark 23 which was capable of the blind fire control of guns and missiles by the pilot in single-seat fighters. It eventually found an application in the RAF Lightning but was considered for use in developed versions of the Scimitar. Even more speculative was an investigation into the use of infrared sensors for air-intercept purposes. These were seen in the mid-1950s as having less utility than radar but did have the advantages that the necessary ‘black boxes’ would weigh considerably less, take up less volume and require scanners measured in inches rather than feet. These systems were all the result of joint naval and air staff requirements but there was one area where experience led the staffs to specify different equipment, the identification of friend from foe. The majority of aircraft were fitted with the AN/APX-6 transponder which was compatible with the IFF Mark 10 system fitted in HM Ships but the naval staff wanted fighters to be fitted with an air-to-air identification system, FIS-3, which was a simple cross-band equipment working with IFF-10 including simple coding. It would allow AI-fitted fighters to identify appropriate radar contacts as friendly and be of considerable value for fleet air defence work. The air staff and USN favoured ‘Black Maria’, FIS-4, and additional equipment had to be designed into naval aircraft to make the two systems compatible.

       Flying Clothing

      The rapid development of high-flying, transonic fighters in the early 1950s led to urgent joint Naval and Air Staff requirements for specialised flying clothing to replace the old, accepted equipment. These included a pressure-breathing suit to keep pilots conscious in the event of a cockpit pressurisation failure above 48,000ft. It would allow them to descend rapidly to a safe altitude and recover the aircraft to the carrier. Anti-G suits had been used during the Second World War but now found a wider application to allow fighter pilots maximum G-tolerance while manoeuvring at low level. They would eventually become universal in the form of over-trousers inflated by air pressure as ‘G forces’ increased, preventing blood from being forced into the lower body away from the brain. Individuals varied but anti-G suits could make a difference of 2 or 3 G before blacking out when flying to the aircraft’s limits. Immersion suits intended to keep aircrew warm after ditching had become standard during Korean operations, as had the need for a cover on the new lightweight dinghy to prevent survivors from hypothermia while they waited for rescue. The rescue itself was to be assisted by a new personal radio beacon equipment known as TALBE, an acronym for tactical aircrew locator beacon equipment. This was carried in the life-saving waistcoat and, when activated, sent out a continuous wave signal on which searching aircraft could home.

      Ejection seats were accepted as vital for all strike and fighter aircraft, including the Wyvern, because manual bail-out was found to be difficult, if not impossible, at high speeds and high altitudes. Early Martin-Baker models required aircrew to separate manually from the seat once it was clear of the aircraft but a new Mark 2 variant was produced from 1954 to meet a joint naval and air staff requirement for automatic separation after ejection. It had a minimum safe height at which the seat could be used of 100ft provided the aircraft had a forward speed of over 90 knots and the canopy was automatically blown clear when the pilot pulled the handle. The development of successive, improved ejection seats has continued to this day and gives aircrew the confidence to fly their aircraft to the limit in combat. Martin-Baker proved to be a world leader in the technology and its products are standardised in the RN, USN and RAF as well as many other air arms throughout the world in 2015.

      The most obvious new element in the modernised range of flying clothing was the Mark 1 protective helmet. Increasing aircraft speeds in the late 1940s and early 1950s had led to accidents in which many aircrew had suffered head injuries because the familiar leather flying helmet offered no protection; effectively it was a comfortable way of holding earphones, goggles and the oxygen mask in place and little else. The new assembly, which was also adopted by the RAF, comprised an inner cloth helmet containing the earphones and attachment points for the oxygen mask or the throat microphone worn by helicopter aircrew. Over this there was a leather-lined, hard plastic helmet to protect the head against impact. Initially this was fitted with attachments for goggles but these were soon replaced by a visor on a ratchet which could be pulled down to a position just above the oxygen mask to protect the eyes against wind blast on ejecting. Usefully, tinted visors could be used to protect against the sun’s glare. The Admiralty’s intention was to make the wearing of protective helmets obligatory from 1955 and, despite some initial misgivings about the loss of the familiar leather-helmeted image, the change was popular with aircrew.

       Rebuilt Ships

      At the end of the Second World War the Admiralty’s attention had been focused on new carrier designs intended to operate the new generation of aircraft. The cancellation of the Malta class and long delays anticipated before the surviving ships of the Audacious and Hermes class could be completed meant that the ‘legacy’ carriers of the Illustrious class would have to be extensively modernised to


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