Shipbucket

RipSteakface wrote: ↑January 5th, 2018, 3:34 am Hey, I'm really sorry for necro-ing, but what would the full air wing be for the CVA-01 and the rebuilt Malta?

first question, simple: I went to google, typed in CVA-01, found the wikipedia link, and magic happens:

Aircraft carried: Up to 50 aircraft, with the planned airgroup having
18 × Phantom FG.1;
18 × Buccaneer S.2;
4 × Gannet AEW.3;
4 × Sea King HAS.1;
2 × Wessex HAS.1 (SAR),
probably with 1 × Gannet COD.4

Aviation facilities: 2 catapults (reduced from 4), 2 lifts, 1 hangar 650 ft (200 m) by 80 ft (24 m)

heuhen wrote: ↑January 5th, 2018, 12:21 pm

RipSteakface wrote: ↑January 5th, 2018, 3:34 am Hey, I'm really sorry for necro-ing, but what would the full air wing be for the CVA-01 and the rebuilt Malta?

first question, simple: I went to google, typed in CVA-01, found the wikipedia link, and magic happens:

Aircraft carried: Up to 50 aircraft, with the planned airgroup having
18 × Phantom FG.1;
18 × Buccaneer S.2;
4 × Gannet AEW.3;
4 × Sea King HAS.1;
2 × Wessex HAS.1 (SAR),
probably with 1 × Gannet COD.4

Aviation facilities: 2 catapults (reduced from 4), 2 lifts, 1 hangar 650 ft (200 m) by 80 ft (24 m)

Lol, thx man!

In 1966 before the CVA01 was cancelled, the UK planned to replace its Phantoms and Lightnings with a variant of the Anglo French Variable Geometry AFVG aircraft.
The French Navy also planned to receive them.
After the French pulled out of AFVG, CVA01 had already been struck.
AFVG was replaced by MRCA,named Tornado.
Had CVA 01 continued and come into service in the 70s, it would have had the same air group as Ark Royal did in reality, though it would have replaced Eagle and Hermes, Ark would have gone already.
A single carrier fleet would have been until CVA02 followed, probably not until 1980, if at all.
F18 Hornets might have replaced the Phantoms in the 80s as they did in the USN on Coral Sea and Midway. An all Tornado force, like the original fighter/attackers planned in 1962, would have been possible earlier.
CVA01 could only have survived if its role in the NATO striking fleet had been understood and if the government of the day had been radically different from reality.

I agree the airgroup would have been much like Ark Royal's. We've extensively discussed Phantom and Bucc replacements but have come to no real conclusions.
The mini-TSR OR.346 strike aircraft were too ambitious, P.1154 was not the best choice and projects like the Vickers Type 583 didn't have enough backing. Its possible the Phantom and Bucc would have persisted until the 1990s like they did in RAF service.

This necromance has given me opportunity to say that I've recently tweaked my CVA drawing a little on p.8: http://shipbucket.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 70#p154523

Your CVA 01s are brilliant and very welcome.
I agree that the what-if on CVA01 is Phantoms and Buccaneers like Ark.
To try and structure the alternatives we have three
time periods where the possible aircraft are clear.
In the initial CVA01 design period like your drawing based on the art in Jane's Fighting Ships 1963/4 and
Brown/Moore's drawing, the various types you mentioned are looked at.
Between 1964 and 1965 it is simply Phantoms and Bucs.
In the period before cancellation we have the AFVG M
for France and UK. In 1966 its all over.
Any other types , except perhaps the f111b, are too late to be based on official plans.
So, Jaguars, Tornados, F,18s, F14s etc are pure fantasy.