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The original class design was for a 12,500 ton escort carrier as a complement to the much larger CVA-01 fleet carrier project. The CVA was cancelled in 1966 and the escort carrier design was reworked for a ASW cruiser with six helicopters and command capability. The helicopter load was then increased to nine and the vessel was again redesigned into a 19,500 ton carrier. To avoid using the expensive word carrier the design was called a "through-deck cruiser". That term was a white lie to get the ships approved by Parliament during the 1970s defense reductions. The successful development of the Sea Harrier meant that the plan was reworked again to include a small complement of these STOVL aircraft. In order to launch the Harrier from its comparatively short flight deck of 170m, a 'ski-jump' was included in the design of the ships, with the slope initially set at 7° for Invincible and Illustrious and 12° for Ark Royal. The class also has a secondary role as an helicopter carrier, or LPH.
The ships are armed with a variety of weapons. As built, they had two 20mm Oerlikon GAM-B01 guns, which they retain, and the Sea Dart surface-to-air missile. Because of lessons learnt during the 1982 Falklands War, CIWS guns were added to the design. Illustrious having them fitted at the last minute before commissioning, Ark Royal had them added as a normal part of the building process, and Invincible had them fitted during her first overhaul after the Falklands. Invincible and Illustrious have three Goalkeeper CIWS systems, whereas Ark Royal has three Phalanx CIWSThe Phalanx CIWS ( Close-in weapon system, pronounced see-whizz) is an anti- missile system designed and manufactured by Raytheon Company. It is used by the United States Navy and on the vessels of over twenty international allied navies. It was developed systems (she can be easily told from her sisters by Phalanx's distinctive white " Artoo-Detoo" radome). Electronic countermeasures are provided by a Thales jamming sytem and ECM system. Sea Gnat launchers provide for chaff or flare decoys.
Prior to 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du, Invincible's airgroup consisted purely of Sea KingFor the original Viking use of the name, see Sea-King. The Westland Sea King was a license built version of a Sikorsky helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differed from the American version, with British Rolls-Royce Br HAS1 anti-submarine aircraft and HarrierSee also BAE Sea Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier and the AV-8A are the first generation of the Harrier series, a successful close-support and reconnaissance fighter aircraft with V/STOL capabilities. The Harrier continues to serve today as the Harrier FRS1 aircraft. Typically, nine Sea Kings, and four or five Sea Harriers were embarked. This was due to the fact that the originally envisioned mission for the ships was to provide the heart of ASW hunter-killer groups in the north Atlantic during a war against the Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1. In that context, the main weapon of the carrier would not be its fighter aircraft, but its ASW helicopters. The fighters were on board to shoot down the occasional Soviet maritime patrol aircraft nosing around the ship and its escorts.
The Falklands War changed all of that, since it proved that Britain still needed to retain the capability to use carrier airpower in its traditional role of power projection, both over land, and against enemy fleets (the Falklands nearly saw the first carrier vs carrier battle since WWII). The Falklands had seen Invincible, and the other aircraft carrier deployed, the larger and older HMS Hermes filled to the gunwales with both the air defence variant of the Harrier, and the Royal Air Force Harrier GR3 ground attack variant of the aircraft, along with ASW helicopters. The RAF Harriers proved to be a temporary aberration at the time, but a permanent addition to the usual airgroup was made due to lessons learnt during the war. That addition was a new type of Sea King, an Sea King AEW2A ( Airborne Early Warning) version. Illustrious carried the first examples of the type when it was rushed south in the aftermath of the Falklands to relieve Invincible of its guard duty around the islands.
In the aftermath of the Falklands, the typical airgroup was 3 AEW Sea Kings, 9 ASW Sea Kings and 8 or 9 Sea Harriers. Analysis of the Sea Harrier's performance during the war lead to the requirement for an upgrade, approval for which was granted in 1984. Initially to be known as the FRS.2, the Sea Harrier FA2 entered service on April 2 1993, deploying on Invincible to Bosnia in 1994. The FA2 features the Blue Vixen radar which is described as one of the most advanced pulse doppler radars in the world. The Blue Vixen formed the basis for the Typhoon's CAPTOR radar. The FA2 carries the AIM-120 AMRAAM. The final new-build Sea Harrier FA2 was delivered on January 18, 1999. Other improvements were made to the class during the 1980s and early 1990s, with probably the most important being the increase of the ski jump angle on Invincible and Illustrious to match the 12° slope of Ark Royal.