At present, the construction of the Gerald Ford CVN-78 nuclear aircraft carrier is in full swing in the United States. The ship is being built according to the CVNX-1 project, which provides for the creation of a qualitatively new ship in a slightly modified AB Chester Nimitz hull. I must say that there is not much information on the network, in fact, that's all that we managed to dig up. Love and favor, a symbol of American naval power, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier CVN-78 "Gerald R. Ford":
Gerald R. Ford (1913 - 2006; 38th U. S. President 1974-1977)
The design of the new type CVX aircraft carriers began in 1996.
At the initial stage of work on the aircraft carrier project, by order of the Minister of the Navy, an advisory commission was formed, which, in cooperation with experts from the fleet and industry, in particular, on the problems of promising technologies designed to increase the operational flexibility of the new aircraft carrier, developed the following recommendations. The ship must have a displacement of at least 100 thousand tons and a large flight deck for basing a complete air wing on it and supporting the flights of promising aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in almost any weather conditions. It was deemed expedient to equip an aircraft carrier with a nuclear power plant (NPP), which allows its emergency transition to the destination area at a high speed without refueling (in this regard, the project received the designation CVNX). A unified electric power system should ensure not only the operation of auxiliary mechanisms, but also the use of advanced weapons systems. In the interests of increasing the survivability of the ship, the commission recommended taking measures to reduce the acoustic and electromagnetic signatures, and in order to save money - to reduce the crew size, construction costs and operating costs, as well as eliminate the need to recharge nuclear reactors.
The original appearance even had an overly stealthy outlines.
However, this option was also considered:
Nevertheless, accepting these recommendations, the command of the Navy at the same time abandoned the original version of the project due to its high cost (meaning the development of a completely new architectural and structural type of ship) and preferred an evolutionary transition to the design of a new hull after completing additional research and introduction of the latest technologies into the practice of shipbuilding. This, according to the developers, will take about 20 years, during which three ships with the hull of an aircraft carrier of the Nimitz type will be built. Along with the target setting for the creation of an aircraft carrier significantly superior in combat capabilities to existing ships of this class, the designers were tasked with reducing the cost of the ship's life cycle by 20 percent. Since, with a 50-year service life, it can amount to $ 21-22 billion, the Navy command intends to seek measures that will not only allow, under conditions of financial constraints, to keep the intended number of aircraft carriers in the fleet, but also use the saved funds for the creation and development of other types of weapons. and military equipment. Since up to 40 percent. (about 9 billion dollars) of the above amount falls on the maintenance of personnel, a significant reduction in the number of the aircraft carrier's crew is envisaged - from 3.5 to 2.5 thousand people. This requirement will be partially implemented already during the construction of CVN-77, which will become intermediate between the existing Nimitz-type AVMA and ships of the new project in terms of design, characteristics and technical solutions.
The threat to aircraft carriers can be posed by guided missiles, cumulative ammunition, the latest torpedoes, napalm-carrying aircraft or cruise missiles with both conventional and, possibly, chemical-biological warheads. In this regard, along with the improvement of constructive protection and self-defense means, the project developers are striving to reduce the radar and optoelectronic signature of promising aircraft carriers. On modern ships of this class, only one superstructure, towering 30 m above the upper deck, has an effective scattering surface (EPR), equivalent to the EPR of an Orly Burke-class URO destroyer. Research on the CVNX project confirmed the feasibility of replacing a large superstructure with two small ones, using conformal antennas, rounded mating of the sides with the flight deck, special coatings and other measures related to the use of stealth technology, as well as place all or part of the aircraft lifts not side by side, but in the center plane of the ship. … It is not about making the new aircraft carrier invisible, the task of the developers is to reduce the EPR so much that the AVMA radar image does not differ from the rest of the ships of the marching or combat order.
AVMA CVN-78 (with a Nimitz-type aircraft carrier hull) will be equipped with a new nuclear power plant and an electric power system, which will provide the ship with electromagnetic catapults and high-precision self-defense weapons, power the new radar and transfer auxiliary steam systems to electric power. These and other innovations will be further developed during the design of the AVMA CVN-79, which will have a hull of a new (possibly catamaran) design, which will increase the flight deck area, and a promising electric propulsion system.
For promising aircraft carriers, the operating period will be approximately 50 years. Taking into account past experience, during this period, the ship, as the project developers predict, will be able to take part in three major regional conflicts and at least 20 on a smaller scale, provide 500 thousand aircraft takeoffs and landings, spend 6,000 days at sea and walk about 3 million miles. Taking into account the rotation of crew members, up to 100 thousand people will serve on board during this time.
TTX of the nuclear aircraft carrier "Gerald Ford":
Total displacement: approximately 100 thousand "long tons" (101.6 thousand metric tons.)
Dimensions: Length 317 meters, width 40.8 meters (maximum).
Main power plant: AEU, 2 improved pressurized water reactors with extended service life.
4 GTZA (main turbo-gear units), 4 screws.
Full travel speed approx. 30 knots
Crew (sailors, air group, support personnel): 4660 people.
Air wing: 75 aircraft for various purposes.
Anti-aircraft missile system:
"Enhanced Sea Sparrow" or RIM-116 (RAM-116).
Aviation equipment: EMALS electromagnetic catapults (development is entrusted to General Atomics)
Electronic weapons include the ACDS Bloc 1 BIUS (or its improved version), the Aejis Mk 7 multifunctional ASBU (or an improved version), the Aejis Mk 7 PY-1E or PY-1F + VSR HEADLIGHTS radar, radar systems provision of an air wing, satellite communication systems, navigation systems, etc., etc.
Regarding the composition of the wing:
The strike component will be represented by F / A-18E / F Super Hornet and F-35C fighters.
In the future, strike capabilities may increase due to the introduction of UAVs into the air group, for example, according to the US Navy TTZ, Northrop Grumman is working on the X-47A project.
F / A-18E / F Super Hornet fighters, apparently, are also planned to be used as air defense fighters, at least the specialized F-14 interceptors have been decommissioned, and new ones are not being designed (in the late 90s there was information about the development of a naval version F-22, but, apparently, the topic died out).
Perhaps the air defense of the AUG will be assigned to the EM with ASBU "Aegis" equipped with the SAM "Standard" SM-3.
Thus, the prevalence of the strike capabilities of the air wing over the air defense is obvious.
Electronic warfare aircraft: apparently this will be the Hornet EA-18G Growler version (which is quite good from the point of view of unifying the air group).
DLRO / control aircraft will be presented by the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (in appearance it does not differ from conventional Hawkeyes, but it has significantly expanded capabilities; in particular, unlike previous versions, the new Edvanst Hawkeye aircraft will be able to coordinate air strikes against air, ground and sea surface targets.).
The V-22 Osprey in the SV-22 variant (instead of the Viking) will most likely be used as an anti-submarine aircraft, plus a multipurpose version of the HV-22 tiltrotor, in the form of an amphibious assault and search and rescue vehicle.
However, this does not negate the presence on board and helicopters, which are likely to remain various versions of the Sea Hawks.
Some milestones of the construction of CVN-78:
The first keel section was laid on November 14, 2009. The laying was attended by Susan Ford Boyles, daughter of Gerald R. Ford, who acted as the patroness of the ship named after her father. Navy insisted on naming the new aircraft carrier America, in honor of the decommissioned Kitty Hawk-class ship). Her initials were electrically welded onto a steel sheet that was inserted into the first keel section.
And here, in fact, is the first keel section in the shipyard dock.
So, if we draw some preliminary conclusions about the features of the CVN-78, then the following appears:
1. Of the new products, in fact, there is the use of an E / m catapult (reactors with an extended service life were first introduced on the Virginia-type nuclear submarine, the ASBU Aejis with a phased array was first introduced on the previous CVN-77 "George H. W. Bush"). On the one hand, this allows you to save a lot of weight (E / m catapults are about 2 times lighter than steam ones, and the weight of steam catapults is about 20% of the standard displacement of the Nimitz-type AVMA), launch heavier machines; again, there is no water (steam) consumption, no wear on the hydraulics. On the other hand, the equipment of e / m catapults is more sensitive to aggressive factors of the marine environment, the operation of some components can create unwanted deck vibrations; an electro-magnetic impulse during catapult operation can interfere with the ship's radio-electronic equipment.
2. On the other hand, there is criticism of the CVNX program for being too expensive, while opponents point out that to solve the strike missions of the fleet, it is enough to use a ship-based CD, and the Marine Corps F-35B can take over the tasks of air support for the Marine Corps.
The construction of AB Gerald R. Ford is expected to be completed in 2015.
