Bluff and reality. American aircraft carrier type "Nimitz"
Attack nuclear aircraft carrier "John K. Stennis" together with the ships of the escort sent to the zone of the Persian Gulf ... The nuclear aircraft carrier "George Bush" was transferred to the shores of Syria. ... The third US aircraft carrier arrived in the Middle East.
From news agency reports for the last year
Despite a clear threat from its shores, the Islamic Republic of Iran calmly announced the launch of 180 uranium enrichment centrifuges. American aircraft carrier groups turned powerlessly off the coast of the Middle East and headed for the native naval base Norfolk ...
Whenever US Navy aircraft carriers “play with muscles” in public, “spittle” is inevitably formed on their decks from those they were supposed to scare. “Non-democratic regimes” do not seem to notice the terrible 100 000-ton ships and carry out their independent policies, not at all embarrassed by the “Nimitsev” with a nuclear power plant standing on the roads.
- What is the strength in, brother?
- Power is in the truth.
Why is no one afraid of nuclear aircraft carriers such as "Nimitz"? How does the United States sweep away entire nations from the face of the earth? Does Iran know any secret that allows itself to react so lightly to the presence of American aircraft carrier ships?
Misconception №1. Let's drive five Nimitsevs to the coast and ...
And American pilots wash themselves with blood. All discussions about the power of the deck aviation The US Navy - "projection of force", "500 aircraft", "at any time, anywhere in the world" - in fact, are the fantasies of impressionable inhabitants.
Misconception №2. Five hundred planes! This is not a pound of raisins!
Let's start with the most famous myth: 80 ... 90 ... 100 (who is bigger?) Can be based on the decks of an atomic aircraft carrier, which, naturally, can tear apart a small country.
The reality is much more prosaic: if you lumber the entire space of the flight and hangar decks with aircraft, then theoretically you can “shove” 85-90 airplanes on the “Nimitz”. Of course, no one does this, otherwise there will be great difficulties with the movement of aircraft and their preparation for departure.
In practice, the strength of the Nimitz air wing rarely exceeds the values of the 50-60 aircraft, among which there are only F / A-30 Hornet X-NUMX-40 fighter-bomber fighters (SuperHornet). The rest is provided by the following support planes: 18 of the electronic warfare aircraft, 4-3 of the E-4 “Houkai” radar detection and control aircraft, and X-NUMX-2 C-1 “Greyhound” transport aircraft are possible. Finally, the squadron of 2-2 anti-submarine and search and rescue helicopters (evacuation of downed pilots is not an easy task).
As a result, even five super-aircraft carriers "Nimitz" hardly capable of putting more than 150-200 impact machines and 40 combat support aircraft. But is this not enough?
Misconception №3. Carriers won half the world!
250 combat vehicles - an insignificant amount. In Operation Storm in
Take a smaller scale operation - Yugoslavia, 1999 year. In total, the order of 1000 aircraft of NATO countries took part in the bombing of Serbia! Naturally, against the backdrop of this incredible amount of equipment, the contribution of carrier-based aviation from the single aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt turned out to be just symbolic - only 10% of the tasks performed. By the way, the heavy-duty aircraft carrier Roosevelt began performing combat missions only on the 12-th day of the war.
An attempt to solve any local conflict by the forces of several aircraft carriers will end tragically - deck aircraft are not able to provide the necessary density of bomb strikes, it does not have enough strength to independently organize a decent cover. Part of the fighter-bombers will have to be used as air tankers, which will further reduce the already small number of strike vehicles. As a result, when meeting with a more or less prepared adversary (Iraq of the 1991 model of the year) - enemy aircraft and air defense systems will kill the Nimitse wing on the very first day of the war.
Misconception №4. Floating nests of aggression and robbery
1300 sorties per day - the intensity of air strikes during the operation "Desert Storm" is amazing. Every few hours deadly waves rolled through the territory of Iraq from 400-600 aircraft. Obviously, even 10 Nimitz-type super superspires are not able to do so much work; they are weak, like puppies, in front of the power of ground-based tactical aviation.
In the 1997 year, during the international exercises JTFEX 97-2, the aircraft from the Nimitz nuclear aircraft carrier set a record - 197 departures per day. However, as it always happens at the exercises, the “achievement” of the aircraft carrier Nimitz turned out to be a banal pretense arranged in front of high authorities. Departures were made at a distance of no more than 200 miles, and some of the aircraft just took off from an aircraft carrier, made a fly-around of the foremast and immediately landed on deck. There is every reason to believe that these “combat missions” were made empty — indeed, why cling to tons of bombs and PTBs under the wings, if the purpose of the exercise is not striking, but the cherished figure in 200 sorties (by the way, it has not been achieved).
In practice, in combat conditions, the Nimitse fleet rarely performs more 100 sorties per day. Just "cheap Ponte" on the background of thousands of military sorties of the Multinational Force during Operation "Desert Storm".
But that's not all. The key problem of aircraft carriers is that deck-based airplanes are inferior in performance to "ground" aircraft - the Hornet fighter-bomber is simply a mockery against the Strike Eagle multipurpose F-XNUME fighter. The unfortunate Hornet cannot even lift a large-caliber bomb (restricted when flying from the deck!), While the F-15E is prancing in the sky with four 15-kg ammunition (not counting the outboard fuel tanks, sighting containers and missiles " air-to-air ”).
Well, it becomes clear why the US Navy super-aircraft carriers did not dare to intervene and prevent the Iraqi army from occupation of Kuwait in the summer of 1990. In general, carrier-based aviation showed surprising passivity at that time and never even tried to overcome Iraq’s air defenses. The “invincible” aircraft carriers waited patiently for half a year until the million coalition of the International Coalition with the support of 2600 combat aircraft and 7000 units of armored vehicles formed in the Persian Gulf zone.
Truly, the great "conquerors" and "robbers." The contribution of the US Navy aircraft carriers to world conflicts is simply invaluable: Iraq - 17% of the total number of aviation sorties, Yugoslavia - 10% of all aviation sorties, Libya - 0%. Disgrace.
In 2011, the Americans were embarrassed to invite the Nimitz to the Mediterranean, Colonel Gaddafi “pressed” 150 airplanes from air bases in Europe.
Misconception №5. The nuclear reactor turns the Nimitz into a super-weapon.
The reason for the emergence of a nuclear reactor on aircraft carriers is simple - the desire to raise the rate of production of aircraft and, thereby, increase the intensity of the deck aircraft. The trick is that in order to effectively perform percussion tasks, the planes must take off in groups of 15-20 (or even more) machines in a short period of time. To stretch this process is unacceptable - the minimum delay will lead to a situation where the first pair will be already above the target, and the last pair of aircraft will only be preparing for takeoff from the catapult.
As a result, in a short amount of time it is required to provide the catapult with a huge amount of superheated steam. To accelerate two dozen 20-ton combat vehicles to 200 km / h - the energy required is so much that an aircraft carrier with a conventional GEM slows down to a full stop - all steam flies out of the catapults, there is nothing to rotate the turbines. The Yankees attempted to solve the problem by setting up a nuclear steam generating plant on an aircraft carrier.
Alas, despite the enhanced performance of the UIPP, instead of an effective “floating airfield”, the Americans received a “wunderwalley” with a life cycle of 40 billion dollars in current prices (for advanced aircraft carriers such as Ford, this amount will increase 1,5-2 times). And this is only the cost of construction, repair and operation of the ship! Excluding the cost of aircraft, jet fuel and aviation ammunition.
Even a two-fold increase in the number of sorties - up to 197 per day (record!) Did not help to correct the situation - deck-based aviation was a dull sight in any of the local conflicts of the last 50 years.
The nuclear power plant, along with its numerous circuits, biological protection kit and the whole distillate production plant, takes so much space that any talk about space saving due to the absence of fuel tanks with fuel oil is simply inappropriate.
The increase in the capacity of aircraft fuel tanks (from 6000 tons in non-nuclear AB Kitty Hawk to 8500 tons in nuclear Nimitz) is largely due to a significant increase in displacement - from Kitty Hawk to more than 85 000 tons in nuclear aircraft carrier . By the way, the capacity of the ammunition cellars is greater than that of a non-nuclear ship.
Finally, all the benefits of unlimited autonomy in ship fuel reserves are lost when operating as part of a squadron - the nuclear aircraft carrier Nimitz escorts destroyers and cruisers with a conventional, non-nuclear GEM.
The nuclear reactor on board the American aircraft carriers is a costly and useless overkill that negatively affects the survivability of the ship, but has no fundamental significance. Despite the efforts of the Americans, the strike power of the US Navy aircraft carriers still remains at the level of the plinth.
Misconception №6. An aircraft carrier is necessary for war on foreign shores.
Evidence of the insignificance of the military value of aircraft carriers is more than enough. Actually, Pentagon inhabitants understand this much better than us, because in local conflicts they rely entirely on US military bases in the number of 800 units on all continents of the Earth.
But how to wage a war, in the absence of foreign military bases? The answer is simple: no way. If you do not have air bases in South America, it is impossible to wage a local war on the other side of the Earth. No aircraft carriers and amphibious "Mistral" will not replace the five normal airfields with a two-kilometer "concrete".
Unique Falkland War (1982 year) - not an argument. British marines landed on virtually uninhabited islands with sluggish air resistance from the Argentine Air Force. The Argentines were in no way able to disrupt the landing - the Argentine fleet turned out to be completely unfit and hid in bases.
Another interesting myth: the modern aircraft carrier plays the role of the colonial cruiser of the British Empire in Zanzibar.
Still, 100 000 tons of "diplomacy" inspire - the imperial look of the aircraft carrier "Nimitz" should cause horror and trembling in the hearts of the unfortunate natives. The atomic “wunderwafl”, which is a part of any foreign port, attracts the attention of all local media and inspires respect for America to the Aboriginal people, demonstrating to the world the technical superiority of the United States.
Alas, even the role of the "symbol of the military power of the United States" aircraft carriers was not under force!
Firstly, Nimitz-type aircraft carriers are simply being lost against other important events: the deployment of the American missile defense system in Europe, the deployment of the Patriot air defense missile system on the border with Syria — all this causes a much greater global response than the next senseless campaign of the US Navy aircraft carrier Arabian Sea. For example, the citizens of Japan are much more concerned about the ongoing atrocities of American marines from Futemma base on Fr. Okinawa, than the aircraft carrier "George Washington", quietly rusting at the pier in Yokosuka (American naval base in a suburb of Tokyo).
Normal state of the US Navy aircraft carrier
Secondly, the US Navy aircraft carriers simply can not fulfill the role of "the colonial cruiser in Zanzibar", due to ... the lack of aircraft carriers in Zanzibar. Paradoxically, but the fact is that atomic giants peacefully sleep at the piers in their rear bases in Norfolk and San Diego, or are in a semi-disassembled state in the Brementon and Newport News docks.
Operation of aircraft carriers is so expensive that the admirals of the United States Navy will think seven times before sending the giant on a long hike.
In the end, in order to “bring a bluff” it is not necessary to burn expensive uranium rods and contain 3000 sailors — a visit of one cruiser or destroyer is sometimes enough to “show the flag” (readers probably remember how much noise the disrupted visit of the American headquarters Mount Whitney made) Sevastopol).
Conclusion
The problems of deck aviation began with the advent of jet engines. The growth of dimensions, masses and landing speeds of jet aircraft caused an inevitable increase in the size of aircraft carriers. At the same time, the size and cost of carrier ships grew much faster than the combat effectiveness of these monsters. As a result, by the end of the twentieth century, aircraft carriers had become monstrous, ineffective "wunderwallers", useless both in local conflicts and in a hypothetical nuclear war.
The second strike on deck aircraft was dealt during the Korean War - the planes learned to deftly refuel in the air. The emergence of air tankers and refueling systems on tactical aviation aircraft has led to the fact that modern fighter-bombers can operate effectively at a distance of thousands of kilometers from their home airfield. They do not need aircraft carriers and “airfields jump” - powerful “Strike Needles” can fly the English Channel in one night, rush over Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, dump four tons of bombs on the Libyan desert - and return to the air base in the UK before dawn.
The only “narrow” niche in which modern aircraft carriers can be used is the air defense of a squadron in the open ocean. But to solve defensive tasks, the power of "Nimitz" is redundant. To ensure the air defense of the ship’s connection, a light aircraft carrier with a pair of fighter squadrons and DRLO helicopters is sufficient. Without any nuclear reactors and complex catapults. (A real example of such a system is the British aircraft carriers like the Queen Elizabeth being built).
But most importantly, such conflicts are extremely rare - in the 70 years that have passed since the end of World War II, naval warfare happened only once. It is about the Falkland War in the South Atlantic. By the way, at that time the Argentine side managed without aircraft carriers - having a single tanker aircraft and the only DRLO aircraft (Neptune of the 1945 model of the year), the Argentine pilots on outdated Skyhawks subsonic successfully operated at a distance of hundreds of kilometers from the coast and, in as a result, a third of Her Majesty’s squadron was nearly killed.
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The position of the Nimitsev and the universal amphibious assault ships of the US Navy on February 20 of the year 2013. Eight out of ten aircraft carriers of the Nimitz type proudly display the flag in their native ports (in homeport) and at shipyards. Another runs along the coast of the United States and only one is in position in the Arabian Sea.
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