Aircraft Carriers III

Jeff Head said:

Man...I can't get enough. This is REALLY, REALLY good stuff!

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Janiz said:

lol, watching an end of one era and start of another for US Navy must be pretty exciting for anyone who's interested in it I assume

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Jura said:

now I read Navy, Marines put V-22 to the Test in Carrier Experiment

source:

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Using the MV-22 Osprey as the basis for the Navy’s new Carrier On-Board Delivery (COD) is poised to add significant operational flexibility and reduce flight deck manpower requirements, the Navy’s Air Boss said today.

Commander of Naval Air Forces Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker said

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into fixed wing cyclic operations on an aircraft carrier went very well.

In January 2015 the Navy chose to replace its decades-old C-2 Greyhound with a version of the Osprey

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– which will be the Marine Corps’ Osprey, plus an extended range fuel tank, long-range communications and a public address system for passengers in the back. The decision raised several concerns about the cargo-carrying capacity of the Osprey, the range and altitude at which the tiltrotor could fly, and how a vertical-landing aircraft replacing a fixed-wing plane would affect flight deck operations.

Shoemaker, speaking at an event cohosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the U.S. Naval Institute, said there is no reason for concern.

By the end of the experiment, the crew of USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) had figured out how to land and unload the Osprey in about 20 minutes for passenger delivery missions and about 30 minutes for cargo delivery missions. That fits within the flight deck’s natural cycle, in which the plane might launch a number of aircraft at once, and recover a number of aircraft perhaps an hour or more later.

More than just being able to land and unload the cargo quickly, Shoemaker said using the V-22 instead of the C-2 greatly reduced the manpower burden on the ship. Because the Osprey lands and takes off like a helicopter instead of requiring the steam catapult launcher and the arrested landing gear like a fixed-wing plane, “it takes about six folks to launch and recover an Osprey. It would take about 40 or so to man up the ship to bring in the (current) COD. So that’s some unique operating benefits that I think come with the Osprey.”

Additionally, the Osprey can land on the aircraft carrier at night whereas the C-2 does not perform nighttime carrier landings. So the V-22 could land day or night, and even on days when the rest of the airwing is not flying and therefore the catapult and arresting gear isn’t running.

Shoemaker acknowledged that the inside of the V-22 is slightly smaller than the C-2, meaning the plane can deliver a bit less cargo or a couple fewer people, “but I think the way you do the reconfiguring of seats inside the Osprey gives you some opportunity to do passenger/cargo mix and quickly reconfigure in a way we didn’t have with the C-2.

“I think when we put in the extended range package that will be part of the CMV-22, it will be at C-2 range, comparable to that or even actually beyond, around 1,100-plus miles for legs,” the Air Boss added.

In total, “although we gave up a little bit in people and cargo, I think the flexibility the Osprey brings will be good,” he said.

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Jeff Head said:

I have put together a really nice Flickr Album of about 50 pictures from Developmental Testing III of the F-35C on the USS George Washington. Please visit if you are so inclined:

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Following modernization, Russian aircraft carrier might head towards Syria in October

A source in the Russian military-industrial complex says to

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that the aircraft carrier at the moment is undergoing a second stage of modernization in shipyard No 35 in Roslyakovo, the yard in the Kola Bay. That will be completed by late September, and the ship will then be ready for mission, the source adds.

According to

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, Russia might deploy its new fighter jets MiG-29K and the «Admiral Kuznetsov» in a new offensive against ISIL. The offensive will be part of operation «Vozmezdie» (Revenge), a response to ISIL’s shoot-down of a Russian Mi-35M attack helicopter last week.

As previously reported, the aircraft carrier, Russia’s only, is also up for a

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which includes replacement of the flight deck covering, tailhooks, aircrafts arresting gear and other modernization work. That upgrade might start early 2017.

The 43,000 tons «Admiral Kuznetsov» was commissioned in 1990. It can carry up to to 41 aircrafts. It is built at the Nikolayev South Shipyard in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, and was originally named «Riga». The name was then changed three times, from «Leonid Brezhnev», «Tbilisi», before it became the «Admiral Flota Sovetskovo Soyuza Kuznetsov».

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bd popeye said:

You know what I'd like to know? I'd like to know just what is the status of Nimitz & George Washington?!

Nimitz has been in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard since January 15 2015 for a 16 month overhaul. Ahh maybe my math is wrong but she has been there now for 20 months!

As for George Washington she is scheduled to enter Ingalls shipyard in Newport News VA for a RCOH. Has that task be put on the back burner by the USN? George Washington has spent a lot of time in the last 7 months doing grunt work for NAVAIR...and NOT preparing to enter the shipyard.

Any ideas? anyone? This is the sort of thing I could find out easily if I were still on active duty or lived say in ..San Diego.

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BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott H. Swift established a six-part plan that aims to focus and align its Sailors' efforts in preserving a resilient workforce, maintaining fleet readiness, reinforcing international order, leading in credibility, embracing opportunity and projecting power.

With aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) projected to make its way out to sea soon, it has become a mission for her crew to practice these points, while taking on the responsibilities of protecting our country and projecting maritime power in the Pacific Ocean and abroad.

"These guidance points are designed to give our [strike] group a model by which we can be more effective in our mission and can enhance our abilities," said Cmdr. William Selk, operations officer aboard Nimitz. "That's why it's imperative we implement them to the best of our abilities."

Nimitz is slated to complete its time in the shipyards later this year and her crew has been busy getting ready to go back to sea.

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