Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)

Thanks! This is the first time I see a video showing the transition from vertical to horizontal flight by a F35B, so much smoother and effortless too, compared to Harrier. Pity it just a quick glimpse, wish there are more footage of this kind.

Recent video of FN R91 Charles De Gaulle

The video is in French.

[video=youtube;VN93643bOP8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN93643bOP8#at=103[/video]

Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (also Gorshkov), the Indian Navy's last vessel to be delivered by a foreign shipyard, passed with flying colours when it was operated at full throttle during exhaustive sea trials in the Barents Sea in Russia on Saturday.
The trial feedback helped overcome anxiety in New Delhi about the performance of the ship, which faltered during high-speed runs last year when its boilers failed, leaving the engines unable to produce adequate power to propel the 45,000-ton vessel.
It was a major setback as the delivery of the ship, India's second aircraft carrier, was pushed by a year.

INS Vikramaditya is the only naval warship in a foreign shipyard
After extensive repairs, the ship was back in the sea earlier this month for final delivery trials.
Navy personnel are onboard the vessel, keeping a hawk eye on the performance of the carrier which is going to be the flagship of its fleet in the coming decades.
Sources said the carrier touched a top speed of around 32 knots in wind and tide condition and the trials will continue to test capability of the retrofitted ship that will cost India around $2.3 billion.
The high-speed trials will continue for some more days to ensure that performance is stable. It will be followed by trial landings by the Mig-29K fighters.
The deck landings and take-offs were performed by the Russian pilots last year as well.
The navy hopes that its floating airbase will be ready for commissioning by the end of this year and its formal induction will take place in the early months of 2014.
INS Vikramaditya is now the only naval warship in a foreign shipyard.
All the remaining 41 warships are being constructed in domestic shipyards, in a major boost to the local shipbuilding industry


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ok that is good news for India but now it says the handing over is early 2014, thats another delay!

what are the chances the Russians will pull a plug and delay it further

asif iqbal said:

ok that is good news for India but now it says the handing over is early 2014, thats another delay!

what are the chances the Russians will pull a plug and delay it further

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What? when did that happen? Was not the ship to be turned over to the IN in the latter part of this year?

asif iqbal said:

ok that is good news for India but now it says the handing over is early 2014, thats another delay!

what are the chances the Russians will pull a plug and delay it further

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Source...link?

All of my contacts in India continue to say...and look very much forward to...a delivery to India this year. In fact they are exepecting the vessel to depart Russian waters in the fall, beofre the ice forms, to make its way to India.

Any delay in leaving would not mean an "early 2014" handover, it would be late spring to early summer of next year becasue of the ice.

Here's another report from the Hindu on Sunday:

The Hindu said:

New Delhi
July 28, 2012

India’s second aircraft carrier, the 45,000-tonne INS Vikramaditya — a retrofitted Russian carrier formerly named Admiral Gorshkov dating back to the 1980s — has successfully completed sea trial of achieving top speed of 32 knots, reports received from Russia said on Sunday.

It will now head for the White Sea where aviation trials will be conducted, informed sources said. INS Vikramaditya was supposed to have been delivered five years ago, but the Navy will now receive it by this year-end.

The extensively modernised Soviet-era carrier had set sail from the Sevmash shipyard for its first comprehensive sea trials in the summer of 2012. Russian MiG-29K fighter pilots had successfully completed take-offs and landings on its deck. The crew tested the aircraft carrier for its top speed but it simply stopped at 30 knots. It turned out that the boilers needed better insulation, which had given way due to extreme temperatures. It took several months to fix the glitch and send the vessel for sea trials again, sources said.
The aircraft carrier, which can easily hold about 30 fighter jets and helicopters, will now go for aviation trials. “Touch-and-go exercises by fighters and various other flight profiles will also be undertaken,” officials said.

The towering 284 metre-long and 60-metre-high Vikramaditya is fitted with modern communication systems, a protective coating, a telephone exchange, pumps, hygiene and galley equipment, lifts and many more facilities. Officials said that at any given time, there would be a 2,000-strong staff on the completely remodelled aircraft carrier, which has an extended flight deck and a full runway with a ski jump and arrestor wires. The vessel has new engines, boilers, generators, electrical machinery, communication systems and distillation plants.

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Ah it says formal induction 2014 the commissioning is still end of this year, skimmed through the article too fast my bad

Just keeping you guys on your toes!

Great progress being made on the UK's :

The Vikramaditya doesn't come with any CIWS systems and will be fitted in 2017 with a Israeli India system the Barak 8. The picture of that rocket we saw fired from the ship was likely a decoy rather than a defensive missile.

INS Vikramaditya, already 5 years late, to wait 3 years more for anti-missile defence system

Long-delayed Indo-Israeli anti-missile system to be tried this month

The aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, formerly the Admiral Gorshkov, which is expected to join the Indian Navy later this year, is already late by 5 years and its price has risen three-fold from $947 million in 2004 to $2.3 billion today. It now emerges that for the next 3 years or so, INS Vikramaditya will function without effective defences against anti-ship missiles --- a key threat to warships today.

For this the Russians are not to blame --- the Israelis are. The futuristic missile defence system that was supposed to be fitted on the Vikramaditya, called the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM), is also late by at least 3 years. The LR-SAM is a missile, fired from a warship to shoot down an incoming anti-ship missiles at ranges out to 70 kilometres. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is developing the LR-SAM in partnership with the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO).

On Thursday, Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral RK Dhowan, said in New Delhi that the Vikramaditya would arrive without a 'close in weapons system' (CIWS, pronounced sea-whiz), a ship-borne system to destroy incoming missiles and aircraft. The navy will fit an AK-630 rapid-fire gun system on the Vikramaditya when it arrives, but the more potent LR-SAM will only be fitted during the aircraft carrier’s first refit. That would be at least three years down the line.

Given these continuing delays, the navy’s ageing INS Virat --- already half a century old --- will continue in service till 2018. The INS Vikrant, the aircraft carrier that is being built in Cochin Shipyard Ltd, is being launched on Aug 12, but will only enter operational service by end-2018, says Dhowan.

The LR-SAM was to be ready by 2011 for equipping three Indian destroyers that Mazagon Dock Ltd is building in Mumbai under the so-called Project 15A. The LR-SAM delay has held up Project 15A, with INS Kolkata, the first warship in this series, having floating in the docks for the last seven years. INS Chennai and INS Kochi, the other two destroyers in Project 15A are delayed too.

But there is light at the end of this tunnel. Business Standard has learnt that a DRDO team is heading for Israel for the first 'hot test' of the LR-SAM this month. This will check out all the missile systems --- detection, propulsion, guidance, command and control --- functioning in tandem. While the radar, control and navigation systems were tested last year, this will be the first test of the entire system functioning together.

Says DRDO chief, Dr Avinash Chander, 'The crucial part of the test will be the missile’s ability to perform manoeuvres. After this full-configuration test, we will carry out trials next year from a ship.'

'There are always uncertainties when one is developing a system of a technology class that exists nowhere in the world.'

In exclusive briefings at the DRDO’s missile cluster in Hyderabad, Business Standard was told that the Israeli company is developing the front section of the LR-SAM, including the seeker head that guides the missile, the front controller, command electronics, and the explosive warhead that destroys the target.

The DRDO has developed the rear section, including the two-pulse rocket motor, the rear controller, the thrust vector control and the folded fins. DRDO scientists and designers have also participated in the Israeli part of the development.

The LR-SAM is made especially deadly by its two-pulse rocket motor. The first pulse propels the missile towards the incoming target; while a ship-borne radar tracks the enemy missile continuously, transmitting course corrections to the LR-SAM. When the LR-SAM is near the target, its seeker locks onto the target, taking on the job of guidance. Simultaneously, the rocket motor fires its second pulse, imparting to the LR-SAM a high velocity that leaves the target with little time to manoeuvre. The LR-SAM has both front and rear steering, which allows it to manoeuvre sharply, remaining locked onto even a twisting and turning target.

Once tested and proven, many LR-SAM components will be built in India. The DRDO says it has developed suppliers within Indian industry, with two vendors developed for each sub-system. For example, Godrej and SEC, a company in Hyderabad, will build the two-pulse rocket motor.

A ground-based version of the LR-SAM is simultaneously being developed for the Indian Air Force (IAF), which is desperately short of air defence systems.

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New news...which could represent a significant build-up and major upgrade to JMSDF capabilities if it proceeds to construction and deployment. Right now it appears to be a proposal from the Japanese Technical Research and Development Institute which is a part of the ministry of defense.

This Technical Research and Development Institute has apparently proposed another new carrier vessel for the Japanese Maritime Self defense Force (JMSDF). This is in addition to the two Hyuga Class (16DDH) vessels already built and the two Kaga Class (22DDH) vessels which are currently building.

These new vessels would displace 24,000 tons each, but would not include additional troop or cargo/vehicle transport capabilities (as the Hyuga and Kaga Classes do) and would thus increase the size of its air wing. In addition, these vessels are apparently being purpose designed for fixed wing aircraft operations. Here is a write up regarding the proposed new carriers from a 21C forum announcing and discussing projects from the Technical Research and Development Institute in Japan:

26DDH Aircraft Carrier

26DDH is a new major Japanese destroyer program. The 26DDH is being designed with its primary function to provide long-range air-defense, with secondary roles providing anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and serving as a command and control vessel. This vessel is designed with lessons and technologies derived from other recent destroyer programs (the Atago class, the Hyuga class, the Akizuki class and the Kaga Class) while also representing a doctrinal shift in Japanese maritime defense thinking. This shift will blend the technologies already implemented in other new Japanese military ship designs in a unique way, allowing the ships to fulfill their missions. As such, these vessels will not be comparable to any other JMSDF class in service today. One way of explaining their primary function is to compare them to historical precedents. If existing Japanese helicopter destroyers like the Hyuga and Kaga classes would be compared to the escort carriers during World War II, then these new vessels would be comparable to the Sea Control ship proposed in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s by the US Navy.

Accordingly, the ship’s primary mission is to harness its survivability, range, and the power of naval aviation in order to defend Japanese territory and sea lanes. As such, each ship will be designed to carry one squadron of aircraft for fleet and air defense, one squadron of aircraft for anti-submarine warfare, and one squadron of aircraft for long-range sensing. These three squadrons will make up the primary weapons system of the ship. The three aviation squadrons will provide four salient capabilities for the fleet; fleet/air defense, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and recon/search functions. The 26DDH will focus on the deployment of fixed-wing aviation, with emphasis on extended range over existing JMSDF capabilities and all-weather operations. This air wing will be comprised of twelve (12) F-35B attack/fighter aircraft, eight (8) V-22 Osprey aircraft, and four (4) SH-60K helicopters. The Ospreys will provide enhanced cargo, ASW, ASuW, and AEW&C capabilities for the fleet.

In terms of the ship design itself, the 26DDH will be 3,000 tons smaller than the preceding Kaga-class, but they will have a larger air-wing. This will be accomplished by eliminating provisions for troop transport, or other cargo transport beyond what is required for the stated missions of the ship. Improved automation will also reduce the crew of the ship substantially. Despite its smaller size, the 26DDH will be longer than the Kaga-class to improve the ease of short-takeoff operations, therby also increasing the range and weapons capacity of the aircraft deployed on-board. The 26DDH will also have a larger self defense capability than the other JMSDF vessels of the Kaga and Hyuga classes. This will consist of adding peripheral VLS (Mk 57) cells for an area defense capability as a compliment to the area defense capabilities of its AEGIS and/or Akizuki escorts. These VLS cells will carry both Standard and ESSM missiles. In addition, the vessels will carry two 21 cell RAM missile launchers, and two 20mm Phalanx CIWS.

The first ship is expected to be ordered in 2014, and commissioned in 2018. The cost of each ship will be $1.5 Billion. Two ships of the class are proposed to be included in each of the JMSDF destroyer flotillas. If this holds true, then it will mean that the production run of the 26DDH vessels will be significantly larger than those of the Hyuga and Kaga classes which produced two vessels each, and would produce a total of eight of these vessels

Specifications:

Displacement: 24,000t (full)
Length: 250m (812 ft)
Beam: 35m (123 ft)
Draft: 7.5m (25 ft)
Propulsion: COGAG, two shafts
Speed: 32kt
Range: 15,000km at 15 knots
Crew: 800
Sensors:
- ATECS OYQ-11 CDS Battle Management System
- FCS-3A Anti-air Warfare Aystem
- OPS-50 Surface Search Radar
- OQQ-22 Integrated Hull Sonar
- OQR-3 Towed Array
Aircraft:
- 12 x F-35B attack/fighter Aircraft
- 08 x HV-22 Osprey Aircraft
- 04 x SH-60K Helicopters
Armament:
- 2 x Sea RAM (21 missiles each for a total of 42)
- 2 x 20mm Phalanx
- 8 x Mk 57 4-cell modules (32 cells)

I am still looking for photos/pics of this design, although I imagine it will be very close in appearance to the Kaga Class (22DDH), the first of which is nearing launch in Japan at this time.