Aircraft Carriers III

Jura said:

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time holds the key

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A national security meeting of Japan’s ruling party has called for the acquisition of shipboard fighters capable of short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL), as a newspaper reports that substantial orders are planned for the version of the

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Lightning that has that ability.

Japan needs STOVL aircraft operated from currently available ships to guard against threats from its Pacific Ocean side of the country, according to a summary of results of the meeting published by the office of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, days before the expected release of a five-year defense acquisition program.

Buying 100 F-35s, including some of the F-35B STOVL version, has been expected in the five-year plan, which will start on April 1, 2019; they would be in addition to a current program for 42 F-35As.

In fact, there will be 42 F-35Bs, the Mainichi newspaper said. They will operate from the helicopter carrier Izumo, which will reportedly be modified for that purpose. Modification of Izumo’s sibling, Kaga, is not mentioned but would surely also occur, to ensure that one ship with F-35Bs was always available.

The total of extra F-35s will be 105, not 100, replacing 99

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Eagles that have not been modernized, Mainichi said. Japan has 201 Eagles, including 88 that have been modernized.

Half of the F-35Bs will be bought in fiscal 2019-23, the paper said, implying the other half will come in 2024-28 or later. The other 63 additional Lightnings presumably will be F-35As, designed for long runways; there is no indication of timing for them.

Japan eventually will buy a total of 147 F-35s if these plans go ahead.

The 2019-23 acquisition plan is due to be published this month. The Mainichi said it will appear on Dec. 18.

In reporting the outcome of the party meeting, Abe’s office does not spell out what threat from the Pacific side of the Japanese islands would be countered by STOVL fighters operating from ships. But an obvious concern is cruise missile attacks by Chinese H-6K bombers, built by the Xian Aircraft subsidiary of Avic.

The value of operating F-35Bs from short runways on small islands that stretch southwest of Japan’s main territory toward China has also been mentioned. The runways’ proximity to China implies vulnerability to attack, hence the utility of aircraft that can operate from not much concrete.

Izumo and Kaga are 248 m (814 ft.) long and displace 26,000 metric tons at full load. Although built for submarine hunting, they could perhaps accommodate 10 F-35Bs and some helicopters.

Equipping them accordingly and deploying them on anti-bomber stations would mean withdrawing them from looking for submarines—of which China has a large force growing in quantity and quality.

The Japanese government reportedly decided on Dec. 11 that Izumo would be modified to operate F-35Bs but would not do so permanently and would not be classed as an aircraft carrier.

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localizer said:

When a new carrier class is finalized, does it still undergo significant changes/improvements or do they just pretty much go with the same design until the next generation?

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Obi Wan Russell said:

It's a constant process of refinement, no matter how 'right' you got the original design. That is to be expected, things change in the real world and carriers take years to design and build. Eagle and Ark Royal were designed when the FAA were flying Wildcats and Swordfish, Mack 2 jets like the Phantom had not even been imagined back then. The Nimitz class were designed before men had landed on the moon, and they'll be around for decades yet. Carriers are nothing if not flexible in their design. They can, and have adapted to a changing world.

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localizer said:

can they upgrade major components such as adding EMALS

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Obi Wan Russell said:

It's a constant process of refinement, no matter how 'right' you got the original design. That is to be expected, things change in the real world and carriers take years to design and build. Eagle and Ark Royal were designed when the FAA were flying Wildcats and Swordfish, Mack 2 jets like the Phantom had not even been imagined back then. The Nimitz class were designed before men had landed on the moon, and they'll be around for decades yet. Carriers are nothing if not flexible in their design. They can, and have adapted to a changing world.

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bd popeye said:

Obi Wan for the below post you receive the popeye seal of approval!

Excellent post Obi Wan!..Look at USS Midway. If she were still operational she could operate any sea borne aircraft the USN has..with some modification for the F-35C.

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Jura said:

Nov 7, 2018
while now
Truman Strike Group Headed Home After ‘Dynamic’ Deployment

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The second half of the

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Carrier Strike Group’s historic deployment came to a close shortly before noon on Sunday, when the flattop and its guided-missile escorts returned here.

It was a cold day, alternating between rain and sunshine, but throngs of family members flocked to the piers to greet nearly 6,500 sailors from the Truman, the cruiser

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and destroyers

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and

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.

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s squadrons had their homecoming on Friday and Saturday as their aircraft departed for shore, some bound for Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach while others were slated to continue on to Jacksonville, Florida; Whidbey Island, Washington; and Lemoore, California.

“You should be justifiably proud of a historic deployment,” said Fleet Forces Command’s Adm. Christopher Grady over the Truman’s 1MC announcing system shortly after boarding the carrier on Sunday.

“It was lots of hard work, with over 200 days underway while steaming over 70,000 nautical miles and flying over 12,000 sorties. You should be proud of yourselves. Each of you know too well the amount of grit and determination that underpins those numbers.”

Sunday ended what admirals on the Norfolk pier and inside the Pentagon agree was a successful implementation of the

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plan created by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to shake up the Navy’s carrier strike group deployment schedules.

Seven-month carrier tours had become routine but the Truman mixed that up. The strike group departed Norfolk on April 11, just a year and nine months after returning from a

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bombing the Islamic State in the Middle East.

The Truman and its escorts make a surprise return to to Virginia

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for what officials cautioned families was an “working port visit,” not a homecoming.

They left again on Aug. 28 for a rendezvous in the Atlantic with sister carrier Abraham Lincoln before continuing on to NATO’s massive Trident Juncture exercises in the Norwegian Sea, a show of force that reminded Russia that America and its allies can put troops ashore and munitions on target if necessary.

They later sailed across the Mediterranean Sea and then back across the Atlantic Ocean to Virginia.

The Truman’s nontraditional tour was designed to both assure allies and warn potential enemies that the United States can show up suddenly with dominant firepower to defend our interests and alliances.

“The most unique aspect of this deployment was the broad range of places we went,” said Rear Adm. Gene Black, the strike group’s commander.

“From the East Med to the Arctic Circle to operating inside a Norwegian fjord. And then we can home in the middle of all that for five weeks and had a working port visit. It was unlike any deployment I’ve been on and really showed the power of a U.S. Navy carrier strike group.”

Capt.

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, the commanding officer of the Truman, said the highlight of the cruise’s second act was

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. That netted the crews on the carrier and its escorts Arctic Service Medals and certificates pronouncing them members of the “

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.”

“The most significant part of the second phase of our deployment was to demonstrate our capacity to operate in areas where we have not in the last 30 years, up north in the Arctic Circle in a demanding environment," Dienna said.

Dienna said that his warship operated flawlessly in the demanding environment.

“The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was designed during the Cold War to operate in these latitudes, in that cold environment,” he said.

“It is extremely demanding on the people,” Dienna said. "We operated in high seas and cold temperatures and in really high winds. You can imagine how physically demanding that is on the flight deck crews and the squadron maintainers who operate 10, 12, 14 hours a day in that environment. They did phenomenally but it is hard work.”

On the Norfolk pier, Stephen and Jennifer Tobias of Carlsbad, California, strained for more than an hour to garner a glimpse of her son, Information Systems Technician 2nd Class (IW) Wyatt Ogie, who was completing his first cruise onboard the Truman.

For his stepfather, the homecoming brought back memories from his 30-year Navy career.

“It’s amazing how that happens and you see how much the Navy has changed in some ways and in many others how it’s not changed at all,” said retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 Tobias.

The Truman’s crew will now get some rest during the holidays. But when they return, their warship becomes the “ready carrier” on the East Coast, relieving the George H.W. Bush, which is slated to enter a maintenance phase.

“Keep your cutlass sharp," Adm. Grady told the sailors. "You will remain on call, sustaining your ability to respond should America or her allies need you. Enjoy your families, your home and the holidays.

"Thanks for keeping us safe.”

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