Invincible class aircraft carrier

The German light carrier BMS Brandenburg (R 05) passing by Jacksonville, Dixieland en route to Belize on May 21st, 2004.

The Invincible-class light carriers are a class of small aircraft carrier in service in the Bundesmarine and Republic of Japan Navy from the 1980s onwards. The Invincible-class were originally intended for service in the Royal Navy, however the government decided to instead focus carrier production entirely on constructing the King George VI-class supercarriers. The three completed light carriers were sold with two going to Germany and one going to West Japan. Both Germany and West Japan are planning to have their carriers replaced by indigenous aircraft carriers of their own design by 2020.

Specifications

• Type: Light Fleet Carrier
• Service Period: 1980-2020s
• Characteristics
  • Length: 837 feet (255.12 meters)
  • Beam: 118 feet (35.97 meters)
  • Draft: 26 feet (7.93 meters)
  • Displacement: 19,220 tons (Standard); 26,425 tons (Full Load)
• Crew: 1,350 (800 ship crew and 550 air crew)
• Propulsion: 4 x Rolls Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines, 8 × Paxman Valenta diesel generators, 2 x shafts, 112,000 shp (84 MW)
• Range: 7,000 nautical miles (12,964 kilometers) at 18 knots (33.34 km/h)
• Speed: 31.8 knots (58.9 km/hr)
• Sensor Suite:
  • Type 909 G/H-band Fire Control RDF
  • Type 996 E/F-band Surface Search RDF
  • Type 1006 I-band Navigation RDF
  • Type 1022 D-band Air Search RDF
  • Type 2016 Hull mounted Active/Passive Search and Attack ASDIC
• Armament
  • 3 x Goalkeeper 30mm CIWS
  • 2 x GWS.31 Sea Dart Mk.II AAM Launchers
• Air Wing: 34 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters
• Aviation Facilities: 13.5% ski jump

Unit Run

• BMS Brandenburg (R05) - ex HMS Invincible
• BMS Baden-Württemburg (R06) - ex HMS Temeraire
• RJS Mutekiyo (CVL-02) - ex HMS Bellerophon