... money well given".      Lord Howard of Effingham on the purchase of the first Ark Royal for the Queen Elizabeth I Navy, in which he commanded the English Fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588.

No ship name captures better the history of the Royal Navy over the four hundred years, since that Spanish invasion attempt was thwarted than the Ark Royal .  It has been the name of 5 ships which have seen service in World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the recent operations in the Adriatic and the Gulf.

That the last 4 ships named Ark Royal have all been aircraft carriers epitomises the crucial linkages which have been forged between the maritime and aviation warfare communities.  In the modern strategic environment, flexibility holds the key to a successful campaign.  The exponents and devotees of Air Power have long promoted its inherent adaptability, modern aircraft being frequently and seamlessly re-tasked in flight to a rapidly changing scenario.  The ability to launch aircraft from a carrier poised offshore, whether they are for deep strike missions, air defence sorties, or reconnaissance over land and sea, provides a joint operational commander with a truly flexible asset.

The 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) concluded that the ability to deliver offensive air power would be vital to the UK's post Cold War strategy.  The announcement bvy the Secretary of State for Defence in December 2005 that the two new aircraft carriers - to be named Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales - would be built as a series of 'super-blocks' at shipyards around the UK, then assembled at Rosyth, serves to underpin the government's commitment to an expeditionary strategy.  In January 2006 it was also announced that there would be co-operation with France on the common baseline design of the future carriers.  CDiSS has been engaged in the Carrier debate since Professor Martin Edmonds was one of the distinguished academics asked to advise the SDR.

Maritime and Aviation security also embraces the wider security debate from the physical security of ports and airports to an examination of the terrorist threat to maritime and aviation operators worldwide.

CDiSS seeks to engage those in the defence, academic and industrial sectors in the UK and abroad, examine the new maritime and aviation security environment in the age of globalisation, and promote solutions to the problems which face these practitioners today...and tomorrow.  The Ark Royal Programme will offer conferences, stakeholder seminars and well-informed publications to fuel the maritime and aviation security debates.