The situation around Syria is shaping up badly. First of all - for the American "hawks" from the yellow White House.
The general illogicality of the coming war, multiplied by the internal economic problems of European countries, gave a natural result - the loyal allies of the United States, all as one, refused to fight under the banner of their overlord.
The East joined the boycott - not wanting to make new problems for itself, Jordan refused to provide its airspace for the US Air Force planes.
Israel is silent.
The world trend was supported even by the defeated and plundered Iraq by the Americans - having stood in a proud pose, the Iraqis forbade the US Air Force planes to appear in the skies over the Tigris and Euphrates valleys.
The coalition is disintegrating before our eyes, all plans go to hell, the Strike Eagle pilots are sad at the Mountain Home airbase in Idaho - it looks like they will not be able to fly in the Syrian sky now.
It is just right for the Americans to abandon their plans - in the absence of the necessary number of air bases nearby, conducting large-scale hostilities is impossible. But no!
The Yankees are pulling out their last "trump card" - super-ships of the "Nimitz" class!
The US Navy's carrier-based aviation does not require anyone's consent - floating airfields allow aircraft to be deployed anywhere in the Mediterranean and strike Damascus directly from neutral waters!
Okay, let's not mock the unfortunate strategists from the Pentagon who are struggling to solve an impossible task anymore - even five "wunderwafels" of the "Nimitz" type are not able to compensate for the absence of normal airfields. And the super-Hornet deck-mounted jets look like a laughing stock against the devastating Strike Needles and hordes of small but nimble and ubiquitous F-16s.
It is obvious that the aircraft carrier strike groups of the US Navy, left alone, will not "take out" the war with Syria - after all, in all 40 years of their career, the Nimitz have never dared to "stand up and go into full-length attack."
In 1991, these cowards and loafers stood for six months, waiting for the Air Force of the Multinational Force to flock to their aid - while Hussein's troops unceremoniously occupied Kuwait and shared the rich booty.
It was required to launch a counterattack as soon as possible, delay the offensive and prevent the Iraqis from gaining a foothold in Kuwait … Alas, the American carrier groups were in no hurry to "project" their strength.
The Yankees were well aware that by thrusting into the airspace of Iraq with the forces of the air wings of several aircraft carriers, they would only wash themselves in blood, lose fifty vehicles, but would not stop the advance of Nebuchadnezzar * and Tavalkan for a second.
Therefore, the aircraft carriers stood and waited.
They were waiting for 2,000 combat aircraft of the Multinational Force Air Force to arrive in the region.
* elite tank divisions of the Iraqi Guard
However, the point is not even that the aircraft carrier's wing looks like a pitiful stub against the backdrop of thousands of Air Force vehicles. Whenever an aircraft carrier goes on a campaign, ACTION takes place with such special effects that Steven Spielberg himself never dreamed of.
Aviation loves space. But instead, she is pushed onto the cramped decks of the ship.
Hot exhaust of jet engines, sparkling blades of helicopters, an abundance of explosive and fire-hazardous objects, scurrying tractors everywhere and crawling cables of aerofinishers, catapults hissing with hot steam, elevators-aircraft lifts, ammunition elevators, lifting deflectors and heavy blows at the speed of landing fighters modern jet aircraft noticeably exceed the 200 km / h line!
All these rides are centered on a moving unstable area measuring 18,200 square meters. meters (2, 5 football fields).
The result is logical. As soon as something goes wrong - the slightest spark, the spontaneous launch of the NURS under the wing of an attack aircraft ready to take off, or the landing of one aircraft on another (a very common plot in the bustle of working days) - such a FIREWORK arises that would be the envy of another multimillion-dollar Hollywood blockbuster. A whirlwind of fire sweeps across the deck, setting fire to the piled-up aircraft - often already refueled and ready for a new flight. Exploding bombs and tens of tons of burning aviation kerosene - the situation is taking a dangerous turn.
And how much “joy” the Americans get from the seemingly harmless breakage of the air arrestor!
Air Retainer Drop Incident, USS George Washington, 2003
A splash occurs under the nose of an aircraft carrier in full swing - this is a plane that fell into the water, taking $ 67 million from the US budget to the bottom in an instant (flyaway cost F / A-18E / F Super Hornet for 2012).
At this time, real hardcore takes place on the flight deck - scraps of a broken steel cable maim the deck crew, simultaneously cutting off the protruding tails of planes and helicopters parked in the aft of the ship.
In cramped quarters and resentment
Every takeoff and landing threatens to turn into disaster - in such conditions it is better for the Nimitzes to stay at the pier in Norfolk and not try to “project power” around the world.
It is contraindicated for them to appear off the coast of Syria - the deck wing may die long before the ship reaches the war zone - as happened with the Oriskani, Forrestal and Enterprise.
The fire on the attack aircraft carrier Forrestal (Gulf of Tonkin, 1967), the largest tragedy in the modern history of the US Navy, was especially costly for American sailors. In the raging fire, 134 people died then, 161 more sailors were injured and burned.
Cause? Spontaneous launch of 127 mm unguided missile "Zuni" - having fallen from the pylon of the attack aircraft "Skyhawk", the missile crashed into the aircraft standing in front, fully fueled and equipped. The result: a 17-hour fire that engulfed six decks of the ship, the detonation of nine bombs on the flight deck, hundreds of killed and wounded among the crew. The ship and its air wing completely lost their combat effectiveness, 21 burned-out aircraft were thrown overboard (not counting the aircraft damaged by fire).
Aftermath of the fire at Forrestal
No less fierce was the fire on the nuclear-powered Enterprise off the coast of Hawaii (1969) - the newest super-aircraft carrier almost died in an exercise before being sent to the shores of Vietnam. Cause? A jet stream accidentally directed at a rack with Zuni missiles (after all, tightness is a terrible force). The fire, the spontaneous launch of the NURS - and then according to the knurled pattern: a fire for many hours, a spill of fuel from crashed aircraft, explosions on the flight deck, 27 dead and 120 burned sailors. The Enterprise's air wing lost 15 aircraft.
But the most crazy story happened on board the aircraft carrier "Oriskani" (1966) - a sailor carried a bunch of signal flares, throwing lanyards over his shoulder. One of the rockets caught on something and accidentally started from the pull of the cord. The sailor was not taken aback and threw her aside, having fallen into trouble in a box with the same missiles. "Salutes" scattering throughout the hangar set fire to the stored aircraft - 44 people died in the fight against the fire, another 156 were seriously injured. Almost all the aircraft on the hangar deck burned down.
The Phantom fighter did a lot of mischief when it landed unsuccessfully on the deck of the aircraft carrier Midway (1972) - the Phantom crashed into the midst of planes parked on the deck all the way through. The result is an early write-off of eight units of aircraft; losses among personnel - 5 dead, 23 wounded.
However, why are we discussing the events of 40 years ago, when there are more recent examples.
For example, a pogrom on the deck of the aircraft carrier "Nimitz", 1981:
The landing aircraft EW EA-6B Prowler crashed into an unsuccessfully parked Sea King helicopter. The fire that began was extinguished quickly, as soon as the sailors tried to remove the debris, an explosion of a Sparrow rocket thundered, followed by four more explosions. Result: 14 killed, 39 injured. All the nearby aircraft were burnt down: nine Corsair attack aircraft, three Tomcat heavy interceptors, three S-3 Viking, A-6 Intrudur PLO aircraft, as well as the direct perpetrators of the tragedy: EA-6B Prowler and a helicopter Sea King.
Accident on the deck of the "Nimitz", 1981
Another curious story took place in 1988. During the cruise in the Arabian Sea, an emergency occurred on board the Nimitz from the Rise of the Machines cycle - the electric trigger of the six-barreled Vulcan cannon was jammed by the A-7E attack aircraft. 4000 rounds per minute!
The cannon literally riddled the KA-6D tanker aircraft in front. This circumstance only added to the drama - tons of aviation kerosene splashed out of the KA-6D tanks and instantly ignited, turning the plane into a raging fire torch.
They barely managed to push the flaming tanker overboard, but before that it managed to set fire to 5 Corsair aircraft, as well as the Viking and Intruder that were standing at the nearest spotting.
1991, the aircraft carrier "Nimitz" (CVN-68) distinguished itself again - on the night of July 12-13, an F / A-18C "Hornet" crashed on its deck … business, as they say, is everyday, if not for one nuance - distressed burning the car, abandoned by the crew, caught on the aerofinisher and froze in the middle of the deck, but its engines still roared in afterburner mode. The Yankees were really lucky that there were no other aircraft or a rack of Zuni missiles nearby in that coin.
The situation was saved by a brave technician who managed to get into the cockpit of the damaged aircraft and turn off the engines.
1998, another accident on the aircraft carrier Enterprise - the EA-6B Prowler ignored the controller's prohibitions and landed right on the head of another aircraft - the S-3 Viking that had just landed had not yet left the runway and received a deafening blow to the tail. Details on the video:
Now it exploded!
And here is the latest news for 2011: the F / A-18C Hornet multipurpose fighter-bomber exploded and burned on a catapult while attempting to take off from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John S. Stennis. 10 casualties are reported.
Yes … as they say, having such friends, you don't need enemies
The damage from the actions of carrier-based aircraft is colossal - of course, we politically correctly kept silent about ordinary aircraft accidents that occurred after takeoff from a catapult or during landing on a moving aircraft carrier, such as, for example, the death of Kara Haltgrin, the first female pilot of carrier-based aircraft, whose F-14 Tomcat fell into the water while landing on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (1994).
All these cases have one simple explanation: landing on a moving steel strip of limited length is not an easy task; from the pilots are required the highest qualifications and skill of filigree aircraft management. The slightest mistake or a sharp gust of wind - and the plane disappears into the waves behind the ship.
Fierce accident on deck "John F. Kennedy"
A little more - and he would have hooked on other cars
In fact, the number of such cases is over a hundred. Thematic sites and video hosting YouTube are full of footage of accidents and emergencies that occurred with US Navy carrier-based aircraft.
Of course, supporters of the US Navy will immediately find an excuse - as of 2011, the aircraft carrier Nimitz celebrated its 300,000th landing on its deck. What does a hundred accidents mean against a backdrop of hundreds of thousands of successful landings?
The answer is simple - Moscow Domodedovo Airport EVERY DAY provides 300-350 landings of passenger airliners. The norm, which took Nimitz 40 years to fulfill, is fulfilled by an ordinary airport in 2-3 years! At the same time, the cases of major accidents at the airport are counted in a few units - literally once every 10 years.
In principle, instead of Domodedovo airport, you can consider any air base of the US Air Force.
These are the statistics
Spectacular crash of the LTV A-7 Corsair II attack aircraft, Midway, 1984
As for ordinary air crashes and combat losses that occurred at a distance of tens and hundreds of miles from the aircraft carrier - these cases are excluded from consideration, tk. this is possible with any aircraft of the Air Force and Navy, regardless of how it is based.
Also, maritime navigation incidents are excluded from the review - such as, for example, the collision of the aircraft carrier "John F. Kennedy" with the cruiser "Belknap" (1975, the cruiser was almost completely destroyed by fire) or the grounding of the nuclear aircraft carrier "Stennis" (1999) - similar cases are true for ships of all classes.
Of interest are only accidents in the immediate vicinity of an aircraft carrier, on its flight or hangar decks, directly related to the specifics of carrier-based aircraft. And such cases, as we see, were quite a few.
And if it seemed to you that it was not enough, here is another interesting episode:
January 25, 1987, Ionian Sea. The EA-3B Skywarrior radio reconnaissance aircraft reported a critical malfunction to the aircraft carrier, making it impossible to land using an air arrestor.
On the "Nimitz" sailors began to fuss, urgently removing unnecessary aircraft to the sides and pulling the so-called "Barricade" (elastic net) for braking the damaged aircraft. Alas, it all ended in a bad way for the Yankees - the huge Skywarrior broke through the barricade, crashed against the deck with all its might and, raising fountains of sparks, fell overboard. The crew of 7 people were killed.
Well, it happens.
Epilogue
Crossing an airplane with a ship is, in principle, not a bad idea. But everything has its time and place: what was great during the Second World War has now become absurd. The weight, dimensions and landing speeds of modern jet aircraft are so high that even the smallest combat aircraft (Hornet) requires a gigantic ship to land. A real "floating island", whose life cycle is estimated at $ 30-40 billion (excluding the cost of operating an air wing).
But, alas, as practice shows, even this is not enough for the safe and efficient operation of aviation - deck vehicles beat like empty bottles.
The striking power of floating airfields turned out to be negligible in any of the modern local wars (their capabilities in a global war are not even worth mentioning) - several dozen vehicles with limited performance characteristics are an empty space against the background of thousands of Air Force aircraft. As for their notorious "mobility" - in the era of jet engines, supersonic speeds and the possibility of refueling in the air - the need for "floating airfields" completely disappears.
It's time to honestly admit that the aircraft carrier is outdated, just as sailing brigantines, oar galleys and battleships of the Russo-Japanese war were once outdated.
The Syrians can sleep peacefully - until the US Air Force arrives at the airbases in the Middle East - there will be no war. Nuclear super-aircraft carrier "Nimitz" can enter and exit the Red Sea as much as you like, but its ridiculous gestures do not mean anything in modern conditions.
And if the Yankees still dare to send "help" to the Mediterranean Sea - a couple of more "floating airfields" of the "Nimitz" class, in this case the Internet will overflow with videos about new crashes on board aircraft carriers. The US Navy carrier-based aircraft will be interrupted in accidents, but will not fulfill the task.
Powerful crash of F-14. Wall of fire!
Abraham Lincoln, 1993
The position of the Nimitzes and the US Navy landing helicopter carriers on September 5, 2013.
Recently, the number of accidents on aircraft carriers of the US Navy has dropped markedly. After all, 8 out of 10 atomic giants almost never go to sea and rust at anchor for years.
