Babcock's future aircraft carrier project team is a member of
the UK's Aircraft Carrier Alliance. It has responsibility for
delivering a significant element of the Royal Navy's two new 65,000
tonne aircraft carriers, a task that requires strongly developed
partnering skills and considerable engineering innovation.
The Babcock team will draw on extensive skills in ship design,
modern modular construction techniques and through-life support.
Key activities will include CAD-based modelling, design and
development work, the manufacture of the bow section and a number
of upper blocks and whole ship assembly at Rosyth. This will
involve the processing of many thousands of tonnes of material well
into the next decade. Its Appledore shipyard in north Devon will
also compete for some of the steelwork packages.
The assembly and integration stage will involve the use of heavy
lifting, alignment and fabrication skills dealing with modules
weighing in excess of 12,000 tonnes and lengths of over 110 metres.
Following assembly and final outfit the Alliance will complete the
commissioning and setting to work stages.
In order to carry out the future aircraft carrier programme, a
wide range of work is needed on the existing Rosyth facilities.
These include the non-tidal basin entrance, modifications to the
dock structure, flooding and drainage system and caisson, as well
as upgrades to utility services and crane installations.