Posted on 05/31/2010 12:38:14 AM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The planes coming in from missions over Afghanistan for a night landing touch down with a thud, the runway so short and narrow that there is no room for error. It's the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a US Navy aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea that provides air support for coalition forces fighting Islamic Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
The floating airport, or the "city at sea" as its captain Dee L. Mewbourne likes to call it, provides nearly a third of air missions against the Taliban.
"We are providing almost daily support to the Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan," said the commander of the Carrier Strike Group Eight, Rear Admiral Phil Davidson.
"We are a critical component of the total fight."
The Nimitz-class USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is affectionately known as Ike, the nickname of the 34th US president after which it was named, and is home to 61 planes, including four squadrons of F-18s.
Of the nearly 5,000 personnel aboard, there are 1,400 air-wing staff.
(Excerpt) Read more at spacewar.com ...
God Bless the USA and her troops..
Same here
May G_d protect and preserve those who serve the USA (and by proxy the FREE world) aboard this vessel.
I only fear that because this ship is now endangered simply by being NAMED in a LSM report.
G_d bless the USNavy, and its sailors.
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??? article says there are ‘61’ aircraft on the USS Eisenhower
Is that accurate??? I thought that the Nimitz class carriers used to carry more like 80-85 in their air groups, and according to the website linked below there are ‘supposed’ to be 85.
Anyone know if (1) the ‘61’ is accurate, (2) if there is a good military reason for carrying less than 80-85, or (3) is this some economy measure due to the perilous state of the federal budget???
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=200&ct=4
Aircraft: 85
General Characteristics, Nimitz Class
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, VA.
Date Deployed: May 3, 1975 (USS Nimitz).
Unit Cost: About $4.5 billion each.
Propulsion: Two nuclear reactors, four shafts.
Length: 1,092 feet (332.85 meters).
Beam: 134 feet (40.84 meters); Flight Deck Width: 252 feet (76.8 meters).
Displacement: Approximately 97,000 tons (87,996.9 metric tons) full load.
Speed: 30+ knots (34.5+ miles per hour).
Crew: Ship’s Company: 3,200 - Air Wing: 2,480.
Armament: Two or three (depending on modification) NATO Sea Sparrow launchers, 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts: (3 on Nimitz and Dwight D. Eisenhower and 4 on Vinson and later ships of the class.).
Aircraft: 85.
Ships:
USS Nimitz (CVN 68), San Diego, CA
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), Norfolk, VA
USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Newport News, VA
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), Norfolk, VA
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Everett, WA
USS George Washington (CVN 73), Yokosuka, Japan
USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), Bremerton, WA
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), Norfolk, VA
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), San Diego, CA
USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), Norfolk, VA
But I'm just an old AF weenie, just speculating.
Happy Memorial Day!!
thanks, and I don’t doubt that the USS Eisenhower packs absolutely extraordinary powers with the 61 aircraft.... just wondering if it is considered optimal to operate with fewer than 80-85 or if this is purely an ‘economy’ measure on behalf of other parts of the federal budget, i.e., Obozo’s own priorities.
If 61 or so is now typical for all of the Nimitz class carriers, how long has that been the case and why the change? (if indeed it was a change?)
The Navy might well choose to lower operating costs in this way when faced with extreme pressures on other parts of their budget, but what is lost? Do we really have all of the aircraft, pilots, and crews we are ‘supposed’ to have on paper?
Just wondering whether the USN is being forced to operate with less resources than it should have? May not be a problem in relatively ‘normal’ operations over current Afghanistan but what happens if things suddenly flare up with Iran or N. Korea or Taiwan etc.? Why should a US carrier be operating with only 3/4 of its potential air wing, unless there is a sound military reason for doing so? Maybe there is, I have no idea, just asking the questions for knowledgeable FReepers......
During WWII fleet carriers held around 100 birds.
A-6 (16)
A-7 (8)
F-14 (16)
EA-6B (4)
S-3 (4)
E-2 (4)
H-3 (4)
EA-3 (1) Joined us in the med.
Gotta love the "aluminum overcast".
Maybe the 85 includes helicopters.
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