Posted on 05/13/2010 4:52:37 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Some nations have aircraft carriers. The USA has super-carriers. The French Charles De Gaulle Class nuclear carriers displace about 43,000t. India’s new Vikramaditya/ Admiral Gorshkov Class will have a similar displacement. The future British CVF Queen Elizabeth Class and related French PA2 Project are expected to displace about 65,000t (British) – 74,000t (French), while the British Invincible Class carriers that participated in the Falklands War weigh in at around 22,000t. Invincible actually compares well to Italy’s excellent new Cavour Class (27,000t), and Spain’s Principe de Asturias Class (17,000t). The USA’s Nimitz Class and CVN-21 Gerald R. Ford Class, in contrast, fall in the 90,000+ tonne range. Hence the unofficial designation “super-carriers”. Just one of these ships packs a more potent air force than many nations.
(click to view full)As the successor to the 102,000 ton Nimitz Class super-carriers, the CVN-21 program aims to increase aircraft sortie generation rates by 20%, increase survivability to better handle future threats, require fewer sailors, and have depot maintenance requirements that could support an increase of up to 25% in operational availability. The combination of a new design nuclear propulsion plant and an improved electric plant are expected to provide 2-3 times the electrical generation capacity of previous carriers, which in turn enables systems like an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS, replacing steam-driven catapults), Advanced Arresting Gear, and integrated combat electronics that will leverage advances in open systems architecture. Other CVN-21 features include an enhanced flight deck, improved weapons handling and aircraft servicing efficiency, and a flexible island arrangement allowing for future technology insertion. This graphic points out many of the key improvements.
(Excerpt) Read more at defenseindustrydaily.com ...
What difference does it makek? The CV-21 could be the best carrier we ever designed, but if Obama does an F22 to it, we’re toast.
We’re now refusing to produce our best weapons systems. Missile defense? What a waste...
Wasn’t that just the mast that was set to be composite?
Can you pull skiers behind it?
I don’t know. I can barely see it because I can’t find my glasses.
That is one heck of a target for enemy missiles.
• A composite mast made from a lighter, composite material instead of steel that reduces topside weight (up to 20 tons) and reduces electromagnetic blockages. It also includes accelerated introduction of new antenna technology: mast clamp current probe antennas will eliminate numerous HF antennas.
The cut-away at the link shows 50 cal machine guns on the bow. Elsewhere, presumably? Guess they need something to deal with those pesky bomb-laden zodiacs.
So are New York, Chicago and LA. And they're immobile. Shall we abandon them?
Gerald R Ford class???
Yes
At 50+ knots .... Yes, you can pull skiers.
a) I never said anything about abandoning them. I just stated the obvious. However, do such ships ever become dreadnaughts?
b) “So are New York, Chicago and LA. And they’re immobile. Shall we abandon them” Might not be a bad idea just as long as the libtards who screwed them up don’t relocate to my city.
I notice that there are only three elevators vs four on the Nimitz class shown (caption says CV-71, but deck number is 75). IMO, we should be building a greater number of smaller ships. This is akin to putting all your eggs in one basket.
We should have learned from Pearl Harbor that a sneak attack can do great damage to sea power. In a stroke of luck(?), all three carriers were at sea on 12/07/41.
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