Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)

Just thought I would do a little summary of the the order of battle of the USN Carrier fleet to summerise what we have

11 CVN with currently 10 operational all Nimitz Class

1 under construction and 1 has steel cut so will be back to 11 when Gearld Ford is operational

Air Wings and aircraft for carriers

F/A-18A++/C Hornet
F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet
EA-18G Growler
EA-6B Prowler
E-2C/D Hawkeye
C-2A Greyhound
H-60 Seahawks


Each carrier air wing is made up of
1 x Squadron of F18E and 1 x F18F
1 x Squadorn of F18A 1 x F18C

That's four sqaudorns of fighters of 12 units each to give 48 attack aircraft

Plus there is a Squadorn of each of the above mentioned aircraft

Carrier air wing assignments

From Combat Aircraft pages 49-52

asif iqbal said:

Carrier air wing assignments

From Combat Aircraft pages 49-52

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Well, what you notice is that all of them have

4 x Squadrons of F-18s of various varieties (48)
1 x Squadron of Electronic Warfare (either Growlers or Prowlers) (5)
1 x Squadron of AEW&C Hawkeyes (4)
2 x Squadrons of SAR/ASW Helicopters (8-10)
1 x Squadron of Greyhounds (2)

That's between 67 and 69 aircraft. But the US Carriers have the capacity such that they could add one or two more squadrons of fighters to each carrier if they needed to.

I noticed only two Marine Hornet Squadrons. Generally, in the past there have been more. Perhaps not one for each carrier, but I thought there were at least five of six Marine squadrons in the carrier force.

I already shared this link with Jeff..at mp.net they have a single thread about the RUN CV Kuznetsov. I don't know why.



Just in case anyone is interested.

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As far as USN CVW are concerned one of the reasons for reduced sized CVWs is Precision Guided Munitions. Which make it possible to attack targets with fewer weapons loaded on aircraft.

As Jeff stated more Hornets could be added at nearly any time. Unfortunately the USN has only one reserve Hornet squadron. I do not know how many aircraft they have. However the USMC has many Hornet squadrons not deploying aboard ships.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons

The Marine Corps' VMFA squadrons fly the single seat F/A-18A++(??? not sure about that.), F/A-18C Hornet and F-35B Lightning II(soon). Their primary role is to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft and to attack and destroy surface targets in all weather conditions. Each Hornet squadron operates 12 aircraft, while each F-35B squadron operates 16 aircraft.

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..and..

Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadrons

The VMFA(AW) squadrons fly the two seat F/A-18D Hornet. Their primary mission is to attack and destroy surface targets, day or night, under all weather conditions; conduct multi-sensor imagery reconnaissance; provide supporting arms coordination; and intercept and destroy enemy aircraft in all weather conditions. The current F/A-18s saw their first action in Operation Desert Storm after replacing the venerable F-4 Phantom II.

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And...

Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadrons

VMAQ squadrons operate the EA-6B Prowler and are tasked with providing electronic attack, electronic counter-countermeasures, radar jamming and suppression of enemy air defense using the AN/ALQ-99 jamming pod and the AGM-88 HARM. Each of the four squadrons operates five aircraft and are land-based, although they are capable of landing on board U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. The Marine Corps has recently solidified plans to install a next-generation jammer on the F-35 Lightning II. It has joined the EA-18G Growler as the launch platform for the jammer, which is scheduled to enter service in 2018.

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...last word.. the USMC does not desire to operate any Super Hornets.

bd popeye said:

I already shared this link with Jeff..at mp.net they have a single thread about the RUN CV Kuznetsov.

As far as USN CVW are concerned one of the reasons for reduced sized CVWs is Precision Guided Munitions. Which make it possible to attack targets with fewer weapons loaded on aircraft.

As Jeff stated more Hornets could be added at nearly any time. Unfortunately the USN has only one reserve Hornet squadron. I do not know how many aircraft they have. However the USMC has many Hornet squadrons not deploying aboard ships.

Click to expand...

As of Nov Last year F18C equips 10 active VFA squadrons ad well as a fleet readiness Sqaudron VFA-106

For many years the USMC has also provided 2-4 Sqaudron of F18A and C from its own VMFA units

In total there is 491 Super Hornets in US navy inventory the order is for 563 made up of 292 F18E and 271 F18F

Btw why dont they use F18B and F18D? They use only F18C/E/F

VMT Jeff. What a Navy - the JMDF, never seen anything like this before.

Jeff Head said:

Couple of good videos of the Japanese Izumo carrier that I had not seen before.

Leaves lieelt doubt about their flat deck and air operation centric intent:

[video=youtube;BQaU9mlHdgk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQaU9mlHdgk[/video]

[video=youtube;aozyIqsHbEY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aozyIqsHbEY[/video]
​

Click to expand...

bd popeye said:

As far as USN CVW are concerned one of the reasons for reduced sized CVWs is Precision Guided Munitions. Which make it possible to attack targets with fewer weapons loaded on aircraft.

As Jeff stated more Hornets could be added at nearly any time. Unfortunately the USN has only one reserve Hornet squadron. I do not know how many aircraft they have. However the USMC has many Hornet squadrons not deploying aboard ships.

Marine Fighter Squadrons

..and..

Marine Strike Squadrons

..and..

Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadrons

...last word.. the USMC does not desire to operate any Super Hornets.

Click to expand...

So, nine VMFA US Marine fighter squadrons, four US Marine VMFAW strike squadrons, and four US Marine electronic warfare squadrons.

That's a total of 17 squadrons...but, for the F-18 sake (and later the F-35B) that's 13 squadrons, of which we see only two currently assigned to carriers. Plenty of reserve there for the carrier force if ever needed.

So, looking a few years down the road, for future US Navy nuclear carriers, once the JSF, the UCAV aircraft, the new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, and the new Osprey cargo aircraft are deployed I see the following

2 x Superhornet F/A-18E Squardons (24 aircraft)
1 x Superhornet F/A-18F Squadron (12 aircraft)
1 x Lightning II F-35C Squadron (Navy or Marine F-35B) (16 aircraft)
1 x UCAV X-47B Squadron (6 aircraft)
1 x Growler EA-18G Squadron (5 Aircraft)
1 x Hawkeye E-2D Squadron (4 aircraft)
2 x Seahawk SAR/ASW Squadrons (MH-60 and/or HH-60) (10 Aircraft)
1 x Osprey V-22 Cargo Squadron (2 Aircraft)

This would call for 79 aircraft per carrier and give an unbelievably capable and flexible airwing.

New MN CdeG video
[video=dailymotion;x1byhlq]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1byhlq_series-d-appontages-et-de-catapultages-sur-le-porte-avions-charles-de-gaulle_news[/video]

Great video! Now that CdGe R91 is an aircraft carrier!

I have a question. What is the maximum number of aircraft CdG R91 may safely operate? And what would be the number of each type of aircraft?

Thank you!

^ I thought Jeff would answer this one

Here are the "official data" from the french navy:


40 Airplanes
Rafale Marine
Super-étendard modernisé
Hawkeye
Dauphin

100 flights per day for 7 days
1 aircraft launch every 30 seconds, up to 20 in 12 minutes
Aircraft capacity : 40
Ammo capacity : 550 t
Fuel capacity : 3.400 t