Aircraft Carriers III

Jeff Head

General
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Naval Today said:
French Defense Minister Yves Le Drian has affirmed that France would find buyers for their two Mistral-class ships.

Russian military-technical cooperation sector has confirmed to TASS that they will start dismantling Russian technology from the French ships on Monday. Originally meant for Russia, the two Mistral-class vessels were built by STX France in Saint-Nazaire. France, however, suspended the delivery of ships due to Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis.

Although there were talks and predictions about who would buy the two Mistrals, France was unable to engage in formal negotiations until the deal with Russia had been broken off. In early August, France reached an official agreement with Russia to cancel the contract.

Defense Minister Le Drian told Le Monde he is confident that France would complete the sale of the two ships within the next few weeks.

Some of the potential buyers mentioned were Egypt, India and Singapore.
If France is saying that they will have a deal within a few weeks, then they are already pretty far along with someone about the vesels. I am thinking INdia. it would make a lot of sense. India already has marines. India would be interested in the helos Russia was already building for the vessels.

Time will tell.
 
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Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
A close, high resolution look at USS Ronald Reagan underway in the Pacific Ocean on her way to being forward deployed to Japan.

CVN76-RonaldReagan.jpg

I count 48 aircraft spotted on deck. They are from Carrier Air wing 14 (CAW-14) which is embarked on the Ronald Reagan. CAW-14 is made up of:

VFA-154 (Strike Fighter Squadron) Blacknights flying F/A-18F Superhornets
VFA-147 (Strike Fighter Squadron) Argonaughts flying F/A-18E Superhornets
VFA-146 (Strike Fighter Squadron) Blue Diamons flying F/A-18C Hornets
VFMA-323 (Marine Fighter Attack Squadron) Blacknights flying F/A-18C(N) Hornets
VAW-113 (Airborne Early warning Squadron) Black Eagles flying E-2C Hawkeyes
VAQ-139 (Electronic Warfare Squadron) Cougars flying EA-16G Growlrs
HS-4 (Anti Submarine Squadron) Blacknights flying F/A-18F Superhornets
VRC-30 (Logistics Support Squadron) Providers flying C-2 Greyhounds

And sure enoguh, ond eck there I see:

E-2C Hawkeyes
F/A-18E Super Hornets
F/A-18F Super Hornets
EA-18G Growlers
F/A-18C Hornets
SH-60F Seahawk Helicopters
C-2 Greyhound COD aircraft
 
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thunderchief

Senior Member
If France is saying that they will have a deal within a few weeks, then they are already pretty far along with someone about the vesels. I am thinking INdia. it would make a lot of sense. India already has marines. India would be interested in the helos Russia was already building for the vessels.

Time will tell.

Not very likely they will make a deal with India in a hurry . India has lengthy procurement procedure in order to avoid corruption . As an example, contract for 36 Rafales is not signed yet . Besides,there is now a drive to "make in India" everything that could be made in India . If they manage to build STOBAR carrier, there will be little incentive to buy much smaller helicopter carriers from abroad .
 

aksha

Captain
Not very likely they will make a deal with India in a hurry . India has lengthy procurement procedure in order to avoid corruption . As an example, contract for 36 Rafales is not signed yet . Besides,there is now a drive to "make in India" everything that could be made in India . If they manage to build STOBAR carrier, there will be little incentive to buy much smaller helicopter carriers from abroad .

i agree too

the Ministry of Defence took 5 years just to decide whether to buy the Vikramaditya :(
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Not very likely they will make a deal with India in a hurry . India has lengthy procurement procedure in order to avoid corruption . If they manage to build STOBAR carrier, there will be little incentive to buy much smaller helicopter carriers from abroad .
We shall see. India could use these...and the announcement of a deal does not mean the deal is finalized.

As it is, their yards are full and this would offer a one off opportunity.

As I say, if the price is right, this would be a good deal for India. If not, well then...
 

Equation

Lieutenant General
1305975657113-jpg.19021


I want one!:):p
 

aksha

Captain
Yes. The Roosevelt and her Strike Group are operating in the 5th Fleet area of operations...that's the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea area.

The USS Essex LPH and her Amphibious Group are over there too.

She will be joining the Malabar 2015 exercises next month.

unfortunately Vicky is likely to sit out.

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Top of the line US warships and a nuclear powered submarine will be in the Bay of Bengal next month for a naval exercise involving the US, India and Japan. The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a 1 lakh tonne sea-borne aircraft carrier with space for 90 fighter jets and helicopters on board, will lead the US fleet.



It is currently deployed in the Persian Gulf and is used by the US to launch attacks on terror group IS-controlled areas.


Littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth, nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class submarine and guided-missile carrying cruiser USS Normandy will be part of the fleet for the naval exercise — ‘Malabar’.


The Indian Navy will field its stealth frigate INS Shivalik and warships INS Ranvir and INS Betwa, besides a diesel-electric powered submarine and a fleet tanker. The Japanese have so far confirmed the participation of its warship JMSDF Fuyuzuki.
 
... goes on:
Carrier Ford’s Maiden Deployment Could Face 2-Year Delay Due to Shock Trials

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... related:
Carrier Ford Delayed By Need For More Tests
Delivery of the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, is being delayed six to eight weeks, the service announced Tuesday, with more testing needed before the new ship can begin sea trials.

The Navy and its shipbuilder, Newport News Shipbuilding, had been driving to a delivery date of March 31, 2016. That has now slipped to mid- or late-May, a Navy spokesperson said, but a specific date will await the result of tests and trials.

Cmdr. Thurraya Kent, spokesperson for the Navy’s acquisition directorate, said in a statement that any costs associated with the delays are being “managed within budget and below the [congresssionally-mandated] $12.887 billion cost cap.”

Kent did not detail what specific tests led to the new delays.

The Ford is 93 percent complete, according to Kent. The ship is the first of a new class of carriers that will replace the already-retired carrier Enterprise and the Nimitz-class carriers, the design of which dates from the 1960s. A second ship, the John F. Kennedy, already is under construction, and the third, the Enterprise, is in the earliest stages of acquisition.

Sensitivities over the new ship already are high, with an upcoming Oct. 1 hearing on the carrier program to be held by the Senate Armed Services committee. Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, has been increasingly critical about the ship’s cost, and at his direction the Navy is carrying out a study of potential alternatives to the big ship design.

The Navy’s schedule to field the new ship already has been put off by a recent Pentagon direction – urged on by McCain and Michael Gilmore, director of the office of test and evaluation – to carry out full-scale shock tests on the Ford rather than perform the tests on a later ship in the class.

Opinions are divided as to how much of a delay the shock tests will have on the ship’s initial operational availability, with estimates ranging from several months to as much as two years.

Here is the complete text of the US Navy statement released late Tuesday afternoon:


The Navy has identified a slight deterioration in the required progress on the CVN 78 shipboard test program. As a result, the sea trial schedule will be delayed about six to eight weeks. The exact impact on ship delivery will be determined based on the results of sea trials. CVN 78 was scheduled to deliver on March 31, 2016.

This prudent step provides the most affordable path to delivery. All the work and any associated schedule delays are being managed within budget and below the $12,887M cost cap.

Significant progress to date has been made on CVN 78, including:

• EMALS testing was successfully completed on the bow catapults and proceeding on schedule to complete in November on the waist catapults

The crew moved aboard as scheduled in August and is living and feeding aboard. Compartment turnover to the crew remains on track.

Dual Band Radar (DBR) testing has commenced including initial energization of Multifunction Radar/ Volume Search Radar (MFR/VSR) array faces

The propulsion plants have completed their non-critical steaming program and are preparing for their critical test program

CVN 78 is 93% complete.
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and here's a similar story:
Ford Carrier Suffers ‘Slight Deterioration’ in Testing Schedule, Could Delay Sea Trials 2 Months
Sea trials for the first-in-class nuclear carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) could be pushed back up to six to eight weeks due to a slip in the testing schedule, the Navy announced late Tuesday.

The delay in testing could push Ford past its anticipated March 2016 delivery date.

“The Navy has identified a slight deterioration in the required progress on the CVN-78 shipboard test program,” read the Navy statement.
“The exact impact on ship delivery will be determined based on the results of sea trials.”

The service did not specify testing of what component — or components — led to the deterioration of the testing schedule.

While the schedule maybe delayed, “all the work and any associated schedule delays are being managed within budget and below the [$12.88 billion] cost cap,” read the statement.
“This prudent step provides the most affordable path to deliver.”

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, Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers Rear Adm. Tom Moore told reporters a design flaw in the General Atomics Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) had made the aircraft recovery system, “my major concern.”

The design flaw set the testing program for the AAG at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, N.J. back almost two years and put Ford at risk for a later-than March 2016 delivery.

On the other end of the ship the next generation launching system for Ford — the General Atomics Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) — successfully completed testing in two of the four catapults on the ship.

Last month the crew began moving onboard the ship, which is about 93 percent complete, the service said.

...
... and the above press-release; source:
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