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Aviation History
2000
2000 - 1183.PDF
Boeing's F/A-18E/F will be the cornerstone of US naval aviation in the next few years load and lower operating costs. The evolution will continue with CVNX 1 which begins con struction in 2006 to replace the USS I'jiterprise in 2013. Although retaining the basic CVN 68 hull and layout, it will have a new nuclear and new electrical plant. NNS expects to start seri ous design work this year. A third major upgrade will be the replace ment of the steam-powered aircraft catapults with an electromagnetic aircraft launching sys tem (EMALS) capable of launching current and future naval fixed-wing piloted aircraft and unmanned combat air vehicles. Last December, the USN chose Northrop Grumman and General Atomics from seven bidders to develop EMALS competitively. Northrop Grumman won a $62 million con tract, while General Atomics received $60 million to undertake EMALS programme def inition and risk reduction efforts. This phase of the project includes the devel opment and demonstration of full-scale, reduced-length, fully integrated prototypes by the end of 2003. One EMALS contractor will be selected to undertake engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) and EMALS production. The winning design will undergo extensive land-based operational testing during EMD, which runs between 2004 and 2009. A produc tion award is planned for 2008, with deliveries beginning two years later. The USN hopes to save about $1 million a year per catapult through reduced maintenance and manning requirements. EMALS will also reduce catapult weight and space requirements by 50% while increasing reliability. BASE CONFIGURATION The construction of CVNX 2 - the third evolu tionary step - begins in 2011. Its design features will establish the basic configuration for the 10 follow-on carriers of this class. When complet ed in 2018, CVNX 2 will replace the USS John F Kennedy. Design changes to this warship will be more apparent. Hull improvements, automated dam age control sensors and a new flightdeck design are envisaged, as is the use of an electromagnet ic aircraft recovery system (EARS). Like EMALS, EARS would reduce maintenance and manning requirements of current generation arresting systems while enhancing their relia bility and performance. NNS plans to maintain its leadership in the field, having created the Carrier Innovation Center, where technology is evaluated for pos sible use in CNV 77 and CVNX, several years ago. The Virginia Advanced Shipbuilding and Carrier Integration Center is under construc tion. Set to begin operations in June next year, the new facility will be the focal point for the integration of systems and the application of emerging technology into future carriers. Manning for today's Nimitz-class carrier includes 3,500 in the ship's company and 2,200 personnel in an air wing. The USN would like to reduce that by 50% for the CVNX. NNS believes so-called gravity-compensated weapons-handling robotics can be used to arm tactical aircraft. Tests conducted by the shipyard show that 225kg (5001b) weapons can be loaded by one person usingarobotically controlled lift ing arm. About 8% of the crew handles weapons. Using robotics, one bomb handler could do the work of five. While deciding to stick with nuclear-pow ered large-deck aircraft carriers, the USN is considering major changes to carrier aviation. Plans remain in place to populate decks with the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike aircraft and the Joint Strike Fighter. But development of a Common Support Aircraft, designed to replace 250 Lockheed S-3B Viking and ES-3A Shadow, E-2C and C-2 Greyhound aircraft, may be terminated to save up to $20 billion. The Hawkeye would undergo a further upgrade while the service life of the C-2s would be extended. The Viking could be phased out by 2008 with its anti-submarine and refuelling missions passed on to other fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. Selection of an Advanced Electronic Attack Aircraft to replace the Northrop Grumman EA-6B remains the subject of an analysis of alternatives (AoA) with the proposed F/A-18G, the so-called Growler, a viable contender. Meanwhile, shrinking the standard air wing from 56 strike aircraft to 50 is being considered. The cost savings might lead to formation of an 11 th active-duty carrier air wing. Having worked under a CVN 77 advanced planning contract since 1998, NNS officials anxiously await the award of a follow-on multi- billion-dollar deal for detailed design and con struction of CVN 77, which the USN plans to release this December. The USN touts the aircraft carrier's ability to establish "littoral battlespace dominance" in regional areas, using forces that have become more expeditionary in nature, but Rear Adm Mark Gemmill, the head of aircraft carrier pro grammes, says there is not much difference between "blue water" and littoral operation, "which are handled in much the same way". Gemmill says that aircraft carriers are not "sitting ducks" and he believes that "the aircraft carrier is the mostsurvivable surface ship known to man." So far, it has been smooth sailing for CVNX. Gemmill says: "We're not in trouble, not having technical problems, and we're adequately funded. But there will be issues as we go along, and we will try to contain the overall costs." • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 11 - 17 April 2000 35
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