Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Lifts

MacTaggart Scott was contracted to design and supply two aircraft lifts for each of the Royal Navy aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

At 70 ton Safe Working Load, these are the largest lifts that the company has supplied. The lifting platform itself weighs 150 tons, so the total load is some 220 tons. Each lift has its own independent hydraulic power unit.

For an aircraft carrier, the aircraft lifts are mission critical. They need to be reliable, safe and available. Operation must be smooth and the platform must stop level with the flight deck and hangar deck for ease of handling the aircraft.

There are many elements that make this a special case. Our people take pride in a job well done and are proud to serve the Royal Navy on this prestigious class of ship. The team completed timely installation and setting-to-work of these massive platform assemblies, and the successful design and supply of these very large systems has now been proven operationally in sea trials in 2018.

The customer was clearly delighted with the support from MacTaggart Scott as he commented on the inital trials phase in the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) Newsletter: “The move itself was lead by MacTaggart Scott….. Their professionalism and conscientious approach to safety during the event was, as ever, very impressive. Well done team!”