Free Republic

Brian JonesJuly. 11, 2014The single most important contributor to the U.S.'s military dominance is the country's powerful navy, which gives America the ability to project hard power just about anywhere in the world.(snip) (snip)

The U.S. Navy is about to cut in half the number of aircraft carriers it keeps ready for combat. Starting in 2015, just two American flattops will be on station at any given time, down from three or four today. The change is spelled out in a presentation by Adm. Bill Gortney, head of Fleet Forces Command. The U.S. Naval Institute published the presentation on its Website on Jan. 24. The new “Optimized Fleet Response Plan” represents an effort to standardize training, maintenance and overseas cruise schedules for the Navy’s 283 front-line warships, in particular the 10 nuclear-powered carriers. The...

Ship christenings at Newport News Shipbuilding are typically a who's who of political figures, and Saturday's event honoring the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford is no exception. Past aircraft carrier christenings have drawn presidents to the shipyard, but not this time. A shipyard spokeswoman said Ford administration figures — Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and chief of staff (and eventual veep) Dick Cheney — will be there. Democratic heavyweight Carl Levin, a senator from Ford's home state of Michigan, will also be on hand. President Barack Obama, who gave a major policy speech on sequestration at the shipyard in February,...

A long, in-depth, and superb article on the importance of naval carrier aviation, going back to the mistakes made in the Ford and Carter administrations, and why today the Navy needs 15 carriers. A must read. Link below...

US NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIER MUSEUMS (Click map for a high resolution image) Currently (July 2013) there are five US Navy Aircraft Carrier museums. Four are of Essex class carriers commissioned during World War II which underwent the SBC-125 refit in the 1950s to modernize them. All were commissioned in 1943 & served into modern times. The last, the USS Lexington, was decommissioned in 1991 after 48 years service. The other is the USS Midway, namesake of a larger class carrier built at the end of the war. She underwent two major refits, in the 1950s & in 1970 greatly enlarging...

‘A chance to see the future’: U.S. Navy lands fighter-jet sized drone on aircraft carrier for first timeBrock Vergakis, Associated Press | 13/07/11 4:03 PM ET The U.S. Navy successfully landed a drone the size of a fighter jet aboard an aircraft carrier for the first time Wednesday, showcasing the military’s capability to have a computer program perform one of the most difficult tasks that a pilot is asked to do. The landing of the X-47B experimental aircraft means the Navy can move forward with its plans to develop another unmanned aircraft that will join the fleet alongside traditional...

"The U.S. Navy's new class of carriers will be the first to go without urinals, a decision made in part to give the service flexibility in accommodating female sailors, the Navy says. The change heralded by the Gerald R. Ford class of carriers – starting with the namesake carrier due in late 2015. Omitting urinals lets the Navy easily switch the designation of any restroom – or head, in naval parlance – from male to female, or vice versa, helping the ship adapt to changing crew compositions over time. Heads will be attached to berthing compartments. Currently, many sailors have...

The Russian refit of their former Gorshkov VSTOL carrier into the STOBAR Indian Aircraft Carrier Virkamaditya is complete and the vessel has been launched for sea trials. INS VIKRAMADITYA LAUNCHED FOR SEA TRIALS Originally the Indian Navy purchased a full wing of new Mig-29K aircraft from Riussia for 1.5 billion (USD) which included the refitting of this 1980s carrier. However cost overruns ensued and ultimately after months of work stoppage, the Russians and Indians agreed to a complete cost for the carrier and the aircraft for 2.8 billion (USD), still a low price. The Virkamaditya is now launched and in...

The aircraft carriers being built for the Royal Navy will be less useful, take longer to finish, and likely cost more than claimed, a parliamentary watchdog warns. The first, HMS Queen Elizabeth, will be mothballed immediately it is launched in 2016, according to the existing plan. However, the second, HMS Prince of Wales, is not now expected to be fully operational until 2031. Moreover, it will only be able to stay at sea for up to 200 days a year, significantly fewer than envisaged, says the Commons public accounts committee. The MPs' report, out on Tuesday, makes clear the quick...

A serving Chinese military general is citing India’s capabilities in his efforts to edge the government to have more than one aircraft carrier. General Luo Yuan, a senior researcher with the Academy of Military Sciences, said China needs at least three aircraft carriers to defend its interests in the face of neighbors developing their capabilities. “If we consider our neighbors, India will have three aircraft carriers by 2014 and Japan will have three carriers by 2014,” General Luo was quoted as saying by Beijing News. “So I think the number (for China) should not be less than three so we...

The Navy made history Saturday when it launched the first aircraft from the Naval Air Systems Command, Lakehurst, N.J., test site using the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, technology. The Navy has been using steam for more than 50 years to launch aircraft from carriers. Saturday, the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) program launched an F/A-18E Super Hornet using the EMALS technology that will replace steam catapults on future aircraft carriers. “This is a tremendous achievement not just for the ALRE team, but for the entire Navy,” said Capt. James Donnelly, ALRE program manager. “Saturday’s EMALS launch demonstrates...

China has officially admitted for the first time that it has embarked on an aircraft carrier building program, part of a grand strategy to "build itself up as a maritime power." A report published by the State Oceanic Administration says the country's leaders decided last year to back plans to build China's first aircraft carrier. The Chinese government and military had kept the program under wraps until now. The annual national ocean development report says that asserting China's power at sea is "indispensible to accomplishing the great resurgence of the Chinese people." Chinese military sources said initial plans had called...

USS Nimitz to be stationed in Everett Aircraft carrier will replace USS Abraham Lincoln at naval station EVERETT — This time next year, people in Everett can expect a send-off for the USS Abraham Lincoln and a welcome party for the USS Nimitz. The Nimitz will replace the Lincoln as the aircraft carrier based at Naval Station Everett, the Navy announced Thursday. For years, rumors have been swirling about the departure of the Lincoln from Everett. City leaders worried about a major hit to the regional economy and what, if anything, would replace the Lincoln. Now they know. “I am...

Britain's aircraft carriers will be left without planes for a period because of cuts to the military budget in next week's spending review, Defence Secretary Liam Fox has confirmed. Two former heads of the Royal Navy have warned that a decision to withdraw Harrier jets before the arrival of new Joint Strike Fighter F35s in 2018 would leave Britain unable to fight another Falklands War. Dr Fox confirmed that there will be a "gap" between the phasing out of the Harriers and the US-built F35s coming into service, but insisted that this will not put the Falklands at risk. Britain...

bureaucratic dogfight between supporters of different combat jets as the UK draws up defence cuts could lead to changes in the way aircraft carriers are designed and how British forces operate, defence sources said. Options being studied by military planners include delaying the deployment of new carriers to convert them to use conventional traps and catapults instead of the unmechanised decks envisaged for Lockheed Martin F-35 jets to be ordered by Britain. The move, which sources briefed on the matter said is one of several options as the UK prepares defence cutbacks, would involve other changes to Britain's role in...

Lockheed Martin received a $13 million contract to incorporate a shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL) capability with the short take-off and vertical landing F-35B, with the work to be performed on behalf of the UK. The US Navy announced details of the Joint Strike Fighter award on 6 October, just two weeks before the UK's coalition government will disclose the details of its Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) process. This has assessed the nation's long-term military requirements, including major equipment acquisitions such as the F-35 and two future aircraft carriers.

Military Superiority: By the end of the year, China could deploy an anti-ship missile capable of hitting U.S. aircraft carriers at long range. The naval dominance that American foreign policy depended on may be at an end. When the naval planners of Imperial Japan were laying out the attack on Pearl Harbor, the major question on their mind was — where are the American carriers? In the end, their failure to find them doomed Imperial Japan to defeat. Since World War II, every president alerted to a crisis has asked the same question — where are the carriers? These floating...

Strategy: As the U.S. retreats from the world stage, the nation's top military officer is warning us about China's military buildup and intentions. Already, China is telling us to keep off the grass. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen, visiting U.S. troops at Camp Red Cloud in South Korea on Wednesday, talked about his growing concerns about China. "I've moved from being curious about what they're doing to being concerned about what they're doing," the admiral said. "I see a fairly significant investment in high-end equipment — satellites, ships ... anti-ship missiles, obviously high-end aircraft and all those kinds of things....

Changes are being made to the integrated power package (IPP) on the Marine’s F-35 that should limit heat damage to carrier decks and other surfaces, Lt. Gen. George Trautman, deputy commandant for aviation, told DoD Buzz in an exclusive interview one day before the start of the Farnborough Air Show. In addition, the heat buildup from the STOVL drive shaft will be addressed in LRIP 4, although negotiations on that are still underway so costs for that are not set yet. “We have made the decision to adjust the IPP,” he said Sunday, reshaping the nozzle so that the enormous...

Radical plans by the US Navy to equip its next aircraft carrier with electromagnetic mass-drivers for launching aircraft instead of the traditional steam catapults have hit technical snags. The so-called Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, is now under development in a shore-based test facility at Lakehurst naval air station in New Jersey. However, according to reports, the test mass-driver installation suffered serious damage earlier this year in a mishap blamed on a "software malfunction". Apparently the "shuttle" - which moves along the catapult track to accelerate a plane to flying speed - went the wrong way in a test...