I thought a nautical diversion might provide a welcome break from talk of Army formations and mortars.
RFA Argus has just completed her £23 million Service Life Extension Programme. Completed with little fanfare at A&P’s Falmouth facility, the refit included new medical equipment including the latest advances in CT scanning equipment, used to assess casualties by 3D X-ray imagery, as well as new sterilising kit.
The ship’s environmental credentials have received a boost with a state of the art bioreactor that uses microbial action to process sewage, while new refrigeration and air conditioning plants that use more environmentally friendly refrigerant gases have been installed.
The accommodation and mess facilities have also been modernised, to improve living standards for both crew and patients.
Good news, a replacement would have been nicer though
Due to the similarity, another Bay class would’ve been perfect.
Just hope they dealt with Argus hull cracking issues…
Odds on to be pensioned off in the Defence Review then.
Bay class as designed contains a large well dock and other design features which would render it sub-optimal as a dedicated aviation platform.
Ideally, one would have a large below-decks hangar where the well dock and vehicle decks are currently, but by the time these changes were made, you’d have a new class of ship for new-class-of-ship prices, not repeat-Bay-class prices.
There are no short-cuts.
The Bay Class is a type of Schelde Enforcer product line, it includes vessels that do not have a well deck, and the new Dutch Joint Support Ship discussed elsewhere on this blog, has massive hangers and aviation capability. If that is not enough there are Enforcer class designs that have full ‘through deck’ helo carrier capability