Building The Unsinkable | USS John F. Kennedy CVN 79 | Aircraft Carrier

Navy's E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Passes Test

The US Navy's new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye reconnaissance plane has passed its initial operational test and evaluation,and has entered the training phase.The aircraft is to be deployed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt(CVN 71) aircraft carrier next year.It builds upon an earlier version,the Cold War era E-2C.The new version upgrades target detection and tracking with extended range electronically-scanned radar.It also has better detection over land and the littorals,or shallow waters.*
Radar planes can see much farther out than ship-based radar.This allows the warfighter to minimise threats and hone battle plans.The E-2D's upgraded real time,on-scene capability improves early warning,command and control areas of strike,maritime awareness,border and coastal protection,air traffic control,search and rescue coordination and humanitarian assistance.*
Contractor Northrop Grumman says that,with a two-generational leap in radar sensor capability,the Advanced Hawkeye will deliver critical,actionable data to joint forces and first responders.These advances provide warfighters with the necessary situational awareness to compress the time between initial awareness and active engagement.*
The E-2D is crewed by two pilots and three naval flight officers.*
Northrop Grumman(NOC)

President Ford's Daughter Christens Aircraft Carrier

The Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R Ford,first of a new class of nuclear aircraft carrier,was christened on Saturday,November 9 at Huntington Ingalls Industries' shipyard in Newport News,Virginia.The late President Gerald R Ford's daughter and Ship's Sponsor,Susan Ford Bales,broke a bottle of champagne on the bow of the ship and named it in honour of her father,the nation's 38th president and a US Navy veteran of World War II.Mr.Ford was aware of plans for the carrier at the time of his death in December,2006 at age 93,and expressed both pride and humility that it would be named for him.
The new warship is expected to enter service in 2016.It will be followed by PCU John F Kennedy,already under construction.Carriers are intended to serve for 50 years.The Ford class features a new and repositioned island,or control tower,;a redesigned and more efficient flight deck;and three flight deck elevators instead of four.These improvements will allow a 25% increase in sorties,or missions.
The new class also has two advanced nuclear reactors and 250% more electrical capacity,as well as dual-band radar and electronic catapults for launching aircraft.The cumulative effect of the latest engineering will save the Navy a projected 4 billion dollars over the carrier's lifespan,according to Newport News Shipbuilding,the HII unit that designs and builds the Ford class.The number of valves has been reduced by over a third,for example.The greater electrical capacity ensures the ship can handle new weapons systems that come along over the next several decades.
Gerald R Ford was president from 1974-77,following his 9 months as Richard Nixon's Vice President and a long career in the House of Representatives from 1949-73,where he became known for his integrity and bipartisanship.A football player during his student days at the University of Michigan,Mr.Ford was a gunnery and training officer in the Navy from 1942-46,seeing extensive action in the Pacific theatre aboard the light carrier USS Monterey(CVL 26) and rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.He was decorated with the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 9 Battle Stars;the Phillipine Liberation Medal with 2 Bronze Stars;the American Campaign and World War II Victory Medals.After the war,he was a member of the American Legion;AMVETS;and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Susan Ford Bales,born in 1957,is the youngest of Mr.Ford's 4 children and has been deeply involved in preserving her father's legacy as a Trustee of the Gerald R Ford Presidential Foundation.As Ship's Sponsor,she participates in all the ship's milestone events.
Huntington Ingalls Industries(HII)

Northrop Drone Makes Naval Aviation History

It was a smooth engineering event.There was no drama at all.The deck crew,some of them taking cell phone photos,almost seemed irrelevant as Northrop Grumman's X-47B was launched from the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush(CVN 47) off the coast of Virginia Tuesday.It wasn't Top Gun,yet it was an historic flight nonetheless as the first drone to be launched from a US aircraft carrier signaled the dawn of a new era in naval aviation.
This drone landed at nearby Naval Air Station Patuxent River Maryland-again without incident;but the next step for the Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator,or UCAS-D, program will be to land one on the deck of a moving aircraft carrier later in the year.Eventually,the Navy will arm drones and be able to fly them anywhere in the world without the need for an air base in a distant land:a new degree of independence for unmanned air combat operations.
What is more,the X47-B doesn't need human controllers with a joystick.Its flight is totally computerised.
The Top Gun era is by no means over,however.The Navy's manned F-35 Lightning IIC Joint Strike Fighter program is barely off the ground and will be the standard of aircraft carrier combat operations for many decades into the future.Drones will be a valuable tool,but just one of a range of options for theater commanders.Land-based drones haven't replaced land-based US Air Force fighter or bomber aircraft in the Iraq and Afghan Wars.
Combat air drones are slated for deployment aboard carriers by 2020.
Northrop Grumman(NOC)

US Navy Ship Status Report

On December 1,2012,the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise(CVN 65) was inactivated at a ceremony in Norfolk,Virginia.The name of a new ship,which is to be a Gerald Ford class carrier,was announced the same day:Enterprise(CVN 80).
January 20,2012,the submarine USS Memphis(SSN 691) was decommissioned and stricken.The USS Chicago(SSN 721) shifted its homeport from Pear Harbor,Hawaii to Guam on April 19,2012.The USS Mississippi(SSN 782) was delivered from General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton,Connecticut on May 2,2012 and commissioned on June 2 in Pascagoula,Mississippi.It is homeported at Groton.
The USS Minnesota(SSN 783) was christened October 27 at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding  in Newport News,Virginia,and launched on November 9.
The following names of submarines were announced April 13,2012:Illinois(SSN 786);Washington(SSN 787);Colorado(SSN 788);Indiana(SSN 789);and South Dakota(SSN 790).Delaware(SSN 791) was announced November 19.
The USS Maine(SSN 691) was damaged in an arson fire on May 23 while in drydock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery,Maine.She is being repaired for around 450 million dollars.
The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Michael Murphy(DDG 112) was commissioned October 6 in New York and is homeported at Pearl Harbor.The name of  destroyer John Finn(DDG 113) was announced February 15.Fabrication started September 3 at Huntington Ingalls Industries Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula,Mississippi.
Two other destroyer names were announced February 15,2012:Ralph Johnson(DDG 114) and Rafael Peralta(DDG 115).A construction contract for Thomas Hudner(DDG 116) was awarded February 28,2012 to Bath Iron Works,Maine.The name of Lyndon Johnson(DDG 1002) was announced April 16 and construction was started April 4,also at Bath Iron Works.
The sequestration budget crisis is not expected to halt construction of ships already under contract,according to Mike Petters,President and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries.The real question is new contracts such as that for carrier Enterprise(CVN 80).
General Dynamics(GD),Huntington Ingalls Industries(HII)

China's Aircraft Carrier Milestone

At a naval base in Dalian,Liaoning Province in Northeast China,the aircraft carrier Liaoning,China's first,was delivered and commissioned Tuesday.Navy contractor China Shipbuilding Industry Commission endorsed a People's Liberation Army flag for the ship and a naming certificate to Senior Captain Zhang Zheng,commander of the new carrier.Zhang had previously commanded a frigate and destroyer.
The Liaoning is a retrofit of a an old Soviet era vessel,the Varyag.New engines and weapons were installed,and a year of sea trials were carried out.The ship's crew includes more than 50 officers with advanced degrees,as well as female sailors.China is the tenth country in the world to have an aircraft carrier in its navy.
China is currently contesting the ownership of what it calls the Diayou Islands with Japan,but Fang Bing,a professor at the PLA's National Defense University,said the commissioning was unrelated to the territorial issue.Chinese President Hu Jintao and outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao attended the ceremony.
The number and types of aircraft on the Liaoning were not disclosed,although foreign military intelligence will ascertain those facts from satellite photos and other sources.

Iranian Super Speed Boats Pose Threat To Navy Ships

The Iranian naval forces have bought super speed boats and armed them with rockets and other weapons.A swarm of the small boats could threaten the US Carrier Strike Groups in the Persian Gulf region.They could saturate US Navy defenses;but some believe modern warships would ultimately be able to prevail against them.
The Iranians purchased the Bradstone Challenger speedboat,which is a stable platform for weapons.Efforts were made to halt the acquisition of the advanced watercraft,but a South African arms dealer managed to sell it to the Iranians anyway.
In a recent wargame,several US ships were sunk by the speedboats.
The USS John C. Stennis(CVN 74) and its Carrier Strike Group deployed to the Persian Gulf on Monday from Bremerton,Washington,four months ahead of schedule to meet any contingency which may arise in the tensed up region.The ships and aircraft will also have to stay at sea for eight months,rather than the usual four.
The Stennis,a Nimitz class nuclear aircraft carrier,is armed with Sea Sparrow missiles,as well as the Vulcan Phalanx Close-In Weapon System,for defensive purposes.

Inside the Industrial Base:Navy Shipbuilder Has Successful Q4-and what they're doing now

Huntington Ingalls Industries,the former Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding,had outstanding earnings in Q4 2011.Alliance Bernstein gave the stock a price target of 51 dollars on margin expansion and transparency.It closed at 40.00 on Tuesday.The nation's sole builder of aircraft carriers,HII has built more ships in more classes than any other firm.
HII anticipates a new contract to build the John F. Kennedy carrier(CVN 79)in 2013.The JFK would be completed in the 2020-21 time frame.The company is already building five other ships to be delivered by 2015.The next 3-5 years are already under contract.By 2015,the firm will be back to normal business after the Hurricane Katrina disruption in 2005.
CEO Mike Petters said 2012 will be a lot like last year,with maybe a little better return because of retiring risk.Our attrition rates are historically low,Mr.Petters added.
HII is preparing to close its Avondale,Mississippi shipyard in 2013 unless it can find a joint venture partner,despite Mississippi's offer of an incentive package worth more than 200 million dollars to keep it open.Avondale's workforce has gone down from 5,000 to 3,300 workers so far.The yard is currently completing its final projects,which are two amphibious assault ships for transporting U.S. Marines and their equipment,the Anchorage(LPD 23) and the Somerset(LPD 25).
Once Avondale closes,the company will have two remaining shipyards at Newport News,Virginia and Pascagoula,Mississippi,respectively.The Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier(CVN 78)is currently under construction at Newport News.
Huntington Ingalls Industries(HII)

The USS Enterprise Begins Final Missions

On Sunday 11 March,the USS Enterprise(CVN-65)departed her homeport of Norfolk,Virginia on her final deployment,the 22nd since being commissioned in 1961.Headed for the Middle East,the Big E will possibly transit the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf,braving Iranian threats.
The Enterprise served as part of the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.She also participated in the Vietnam War,helping evacuate Saigon in its tumultuous final days as a free city in 1975.In 1986,she was featured in the classic film "Top Gun."The Big E has provided major support to Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom,as she will continue to do on her final missions.
In recent years,the crew have valiantly struggled through innumerable maintenance issues on the vintage warship,plagued by the unavailability of many parts.Upon decommissioning scheduled for 1 December,the Enterprise's eight nuclear reactors will be removed,leaving her riddled with holes prohibitively expensive to repair.
We salute the men and women of the Big E and her carrier strike group past and present,and wish them a safe sunset.

Two Aircraft Carriers Under Construction

Work began on two aircraft carriers of the new Gerald R. Ford class in 2011.The Gerald R. Ford(CVN 78)and John F. Kennedy(CVN 79)are under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding,Virginia.
The Gerald R. Ford class is characterized by reduced manning requirements down to engineering advancements;increased durability;better survivability;advanced aircraft handling and greater sortie rates;new integrated warfare systems and weapons/material handling systems;and new electrical engineering.The new carriers will need about 1,000 fewer crew than the preceding Nimitz class.
The Gerald R. Ford is slated for a 2015 delivery.Newport News Shipbuilding is a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries,which was spun off from Northrup Grumman.
The U.S. Navy will continue to have 11 aircraft carriers in the fleet,once the Gerald R. Ford is completed.Between the imminent retirement of the USS Enterprise(CVN)and that point,however,there will only be ten carriers for two or three years-a subject of controversy in the halls of Congress until it ultimately acceded to the Navy's plan.
Huntington Ingalls Industries(HII)

U.S. Navy Status Report-as of autumn 2011

As of autumn 2011,the U.S. Navy had 325,123 personnel on active duty,along with 103,015 in the Ready Reserve.The Department of the Navy employed 203,952 civilian personnel.
The Navy's battle force consisted of 286 vessels,including eleven aircraft carriers and their Carrier Strike Groups,as well as 48 attack submarines and the 14 ballistic missile submarines in the strategic deterrent force.
There were more than 3700 aircraft in the Navy's operational inventory.
The Navy,along with the other armed forces,is gravely concerned about the prospect of the arbitrary spending cuts Congress has set in motion for 2013.These would significantly damage the Navy's global reach and missions across the board.Senator John McCain(R-Arizona)and others are working to halt this sequestration process brought about by budgetary gridlock.
Congress is not bound by this-it's something we passed;we can reverse it,Senator McCain insisted.The former presidential candidate was a Navy officer and POW during the Vietnam War.

Inside the Fleet:Navy Status Report

As of November 10,2010,the U.S. Navy had a battle force of 288 vessels.They were crewed and supported by 328,059 active duty personnel and 6,650 mobilized Reservists.The Navy Department was staffed by 202,597 civilian personnel.
There were 11 carrier strike groups,each clustered around a nuclear aircraft carrier and its Navy and Marine Corps carrier air wings.The carrier air wings typically include four strike fighter squadrons with Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18-series Hornets and Super Hornets,as well as electronic warfare aircraft and a helicopter squadron.
The carrier strike groups consist of guided-missile cruisers and destroyers,and are served by a fast combat support ship that delivers fuel,ammunition and supplies to the group.The fast combat support ships are crewed by civilian mariners.
Each carrier strike group is escorted by a fast-attack submarine.The submarines protect the group from hostile submarines,and can also carry out cruise missile strikes,as well as intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.
For special missions such as theater air and ballistic missile defense,the Navy may constitute Surface Action Groups or other action groups of appropriate vessels.

X-47B Makes Maiden Flight

The Northrop Grumman team is celebrating the successful first flight of the X-47B for the U.S. Navy.The X-47B is a demonstration unmanned combat air system.It is designed for integration with aircraft carriers;launching from,landing on and operating autonomously from them.
The stealthy aircraft is tailless.Its Northrop Grumman team consists of Lockheed Martin,Pratt&Whitney/United Technologies,General Electric,Dell,Honeywell,Rockwell Collins,Eaton and others.The team will also demonstrate autonomous aerial refueling for the drone.
The X-47B test took place at Edwards Air Force Base,California.
Northrop Grumman(NOC),Lockheed Martin(LMT),General Electric(GE),Honeywell International(HON),United Technologies(UTC),Dell,Inc.(DELL),Eaton(ETN),Rockwell Collins(COL)

Aircraft Carrier Update

The Kitty Hawk(CV63)was formally decommissioned on 12 May,2009,following a ceremony on 31 January.She is now in reserve status.The USS Carl Vinson(CVN70)was redelivered on 11 July,2009,rejoining the fleet in March after her Refueling Complex Overhaul,a three-year reactor servicing and general overhaul at mid-life.She was the first flagship of the Haitian earthquake relief operation and left Haiti just last week.The Gerald R. Ford(CVN78)had her keel laid in a ceremony on 14 November,2009 at Newport News,Virginia.She is the first of a new class of carrier,built by Northrop Grumman.Commissioning is expected in 2015.

Carrier Special

Watch your T.V. guides.PBS will be airing an aircraft carrier documentary in the near future.They've broadcast one in the past,and it is unclear whether this is a new production,but it looked new to me.No doubt carriers are more photogenic than other warships.They've got the action and the human drama,with their large complement and screaming aircraft.