Invincible and Cardiff Retired

From Defense Aerospace

HMS Invincible Retires Early

(Source: Thales UK. Issued Aug. 4, 2005)

The Royal Navy's flagship, the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, has been retired from service in Portsmouth six months early.

She had been in service since 1977, and was deployed in the Falklands war. She was honoured on her final trip by a fly-past involving Sea Harriers, Sea King helicopters, the Lynx Pairs Display Team and RAF Chinook helicopters. With the Ark Royal currently undergoing a major refit and due to re-enter service late next year, Invincible's retirement leaves the Illustrious as the only aircraft carrier in operational service.

In 2012 the MoD plans to replace all of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers with Thales-designed future aircraft carriers (CVF). CVF will see the development and construction of two 60,000-tonne aircraft carriers that will ultimately replace the 22,000 tonne Invincible, Illustrious and Ark Royal warships. The programme is the biggest of its kind to take place within the British defence industry and both ships, the largest and most powerful to be built in the UK, are due to be completed at an estimated total cost of £3 billion.

Also decommissioned this summer was the Royal Navy's longest serving warship, the HMS Cardiff. Having served in both the Gulf war and the Falklands, her final tour was in the Mediterranean as part of a NATO force patrolling the sea-lanes to curtail terrorist movements. Her decommissioning comes as part of defence cuts announced last year, which include the removal from service of three Type 42 destroyers by March 2006. As yet, there are no plans for the future of the ship and she will remain anchored in Portsmouth until a decision is made.

HMS Cardiff will be replaced by a Type 45 Daring-class anti-air warfare destroyer for which Thales UK is providing the radar band electronic support measures (RESM) system. The RESM has been developed from Outfit UAT with an improved signal process and emitter identification technology and the system is also being used to upgrade the radar on all other Royal Navy warships to bring them up to the Type 45's cutting-edge standard.

Thales UK is also involved in the development and supply of the Fully Integrated Communications System and the Principal Anti-Air Missile System.