Zitat:New Navy Fleet Study Calls for 373 Ship Battle Force, Details are Classified

THE PENTAGON – The Navy quietly slipped a new, classified assessment on the number of ships the service needs to meet its missions around the world to Congress earlier this month. The report calls for a battle force of 373 ships – 75 more than in the current fleet.

Dubbed the Battle Force Ship Assessment and Requirement, the Fiscal Year 2021 defense authorization bill called for the Navy to generate the report and deliver it directly to Congress. “The Navy’s Battle Force Ship Assessment and Requirement (BFSAR) report determined that a battle force of 373 ships is required to meet future campaigning and warfighting demands. The report is classified and was submitted to Congress,” reads a statement from the service provided to USNI News. [...]

In February, the Navy rolled out a long-range shipbuilding plan that laid out three different versions of a battle force into 2052, depending on the number of resources the service is allocated. The first option would yield an inventory of 316 ships by FY 2052, the second would yield 327 ships by FY 2052 and the third would yield 367 ships.

Zitat:HII Lays Keel Of Future USS Enterprise (CVN 80) Aircraft Carrier

HII, America’s only builder of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and leading provider of mission-driven defense technologies, celebrated the ceremonial keel-laying of aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN 80) at its Newport News Shipbuilding division Aug. 27 2022. [...]

CVN 80 will be the ninth U.S. Navy vessel to carry on the name Enterprise. The most recent, CVN 65, was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in history. Already, 20,000 pounds of steel from CVN 65 have been incorporated into modules for CVN 80. When fully constructed, more than 35,000 pounds of steel from CVN 65 will live on in CVN 80, ensuring the Enterprise legacy continues.

CVN 80 is the third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier. Designed to replace Nimitz-class carriers, the Ford class features a new nuclear power plant, a redesigned island, electromagnetic catapults, improved weapons movement, an enhanced flight deck to support increased operational efficiency, and growth margin for future technologies.

Zitat:Navy Decommissions Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado After 8 Years With the Fleet

The Navy decommissioned USS Coronado (LCS-4) Wednesday, ending the ship’s time in the fleet after less than a decade. Coronado is the third Littoral Combat Ship the Navy has decommissioned, with the sea service aiming to deactivate another nine as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 budget. USS Independence (LCS-2), the first of its class, was decommissioned in July 2021 after 11 years. Coronado served eight years. [...]

Both classes of Littoral Combat Ships suffered with problems since they entered the fleet, resulting in the early decommissionings. Congress has put limits on how many Littoral Combat Ships can be decommissioned in the yet-to-be-passed National Defense Authorization Act. USS Freedom (LCS-1), the first of its class, was decommissioned in October 2021 after 13 years in the fleet.

(04.10.2022, 11:33)26er schrieb: Es geht darin um das Thema Independence LCS für die Marines zum "Inselhüpfen" im Pazifik zu verwenden.

(04.10.2022, 12:25)Broensen schrieb: Die doch eher monofunktionalen LAWs mit multifunktionalen LCS zu ergänzen, scheint mir keine ganz so schlechte Idee zu sein. Man könnte auch über Umbauten nachdenken und die Schiffe mit zusätzlichen Davits in den Seitenwänden für kleine Landungsboote ergänzen. Auch im Heckbereich könnte man evtl. zusätzliche Absetzvorrichtungen in den Seitenteilen einbauen.

Aber auch ohne solche Umbauten könnte der Laderaum des LCS z.B. Versorgungsgüter für die Truppen auf den LAWs bereithalten. Da gäbe es schon einige sinnvoll denkbare Optionen.

Zitat:USS Gerald R. Ford Departs For Its First Major Deployment

The lead ship of the US Navy’s newest class of nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), departed today from Norfolk, Virginia, on its first major deployment. [...]

USS Gerald R. Ford is conducting what the US Navy calls a “service-retained” deployment, meaning it is operating by the authority of the chief of naval operations under command and control of the U.S. 2nd Fleet, rather than under the command and control of a regional combatant commander under the Global Force Management Concept (GFMC).

Speaking to reporters on September 26, Vice Adm. Daniel Dwyer, commander of the US 2nd Fleet said that CSG 12, which the Ford carrier is leading, will range throughout the Atlantic Ocean operating with navies of allied and partner nations.

Zitat:US Seventh Fleet continues “experimentation” with assault carriers

The US Navy is looking at different combinations of embarked air wing to enable its LHA vessels to operate as aircraft carriers. [...]

The US Navy’s trials in operating its landing helicopter assault (LHA) flattops as mini aircraft carriers, as seen with the America-class USS Tripoli earlier this year, could provide a “neat capability”, according to the commander of the US Seventh Fleet.

During trials with the USS Tripoli some 14 F-35B fifth generation stealth fighters were embarked onto the vessel, along with multiple rotary assets, to flesh out operational concepts in integrating such “assault carriers” into the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet, which is based in the western Pacific. The vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) nature of the F-35Bs enable the aircraft to operate from a variety of warships as they do not require the traditional catapult and wire recovery system. [...] Vice Admiral Karl Thomas described the LHAs as a “versatile instrument” that could be re-roled depending on the makeup of the embarked air wing. [...]

Thomas added that the service was “still in the experimentation phase” in determining how to integrate an assault carrier-configured LHA with the US Navy’s more conventional nuclear-powered Nimitz-class supercarriers deployed in the region. [...]

Zitat:HAAWC torpedo wing kit achieves IOC with USN

The US Navy (USN) has confirmed an initial operational capability (IOC) for its High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC), paving the way for fleet introduction on the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

Designed to enable the deployment of the MK 54 lightweight torpedo from P-8A aircraft operating at altitude, the HAAWC programme introduces the Boeing-developed MK 14 MOD 0 adaptor wing kit to enable the torpedo to glide down to an acceptable altitude before release. As well as allowing employment of the MK 54 weapon from altitudes outside the current fixed-wing release envelope, the wing kit also improves delivery accuracy.

In addition, HAAWC reduces airframe stress on the P-8A aircraft by allowing it to stay at altitude to launch HAAWC-configured torpedoes, and increases the survivability of both the aircrew and the aircraft by providing safe stand-off. The P-8A will be able to accommodate up to five HAAWC weapons in its aft weapons bay.

Zitat:USS Gerald R. Ford CSG Departs Norfolk For First Combat-Certified Deployment

The capital ship of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG), the first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), departed Naval Station Norfolk for the first combat-certified deployment on May 2, 2023. [...] “This strike group is the cornerstone of our Navy’s forward operations, capable of meeting any tasking provided by regional combatant commanders to ensure peace and stability at sea,” said Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, Commander, Carrier Strike Group 12. [...]

Ford’s second deployment marks the flagship’s first combat deployment, following its two-month deployment to the U.S. 2nd and 6th Fleet areas of operation in autumn 2022.

Zitat:Navy Takes Delivery of First Flight III Destroyer Jack H. Lucas

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy on Tuesday formally took delivery of the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer from HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding.

Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) delivered to the Navy after wrapping up acceptance trials in May in the Gulf of Mexico. “On DDG-125, with the new combat system, new Spy-6 radar, we had four trials at sea to demonstrate the requirements of the ship and the mission capability of the ship,” George Nungesser, the vice president of program management for Ingalls, told reporters Tuesday. Jack H. Lucas is the first ship that will field Raytheon’s new AN/SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar, as well as an updated Aegis Combat System. While an O-5 commands the older Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, an O-6 will command the Flight IIIs, which will assume the air defense mission in carrier strike groups once? the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers the Navy phase out of the fleet.

Zitat:US Navy discloses cost of its order for ten new Arleigh Burke destroyers

A month ago, the Navy contracted HII and Bath Iron Works to build ten flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which the DoD says will cost $14.5bn. [...]

Last month, the US Department of Defense (DoD) secured contracts for the construction of ten new flight III Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyers. The timeframe for the vessels will see HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division construct seven destroyers – two in 2023, one in 2024, two in 2025, one in 2026, and one in 2027.

Within the same period General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW) will also build three units – one ship per fiscal year in 2023, 2024, and 2026. In a contract update on 6 September, the DoD disclosed the cost for the construction programme totalling $14.58bn; although no cost breakdown between the two contractors was provided. [...]

With the growing military posture of China’s Navy testing the power of neighbouring states in the South China Sea as well as the American-led ‘Rules Based Order’, a Congressional Research Service report, published on 5 September, suggested that the US Navy’s FY2024 five-year shipbuilding plan includes a total of 55 ships, or an average of 11 per year.

Zitat: 16 Aster 15 Kurz- bis Mittelstrecken-Flugabwehrraketen (+30 Kilometer), die in vertikalen Abschusszellen (VLS) untergebracht sind.
16 See-Boden-Marschflugkörper (MdCN), die ebenfalls in den VLS platziert sind und Landschläge mit großer Reichweite ermöglichen (mehrere hundert Kilometer, manche sagen +1.000 km).
8 Exocet MM40 Anti-Schiffsraketen mit einer Reichweite von 70 km.

Zitat:Pentagon budget 2025: US Navy continues F-35 investments, but rephases F/A-XX

The fiscal year (FY) 2025 US Navy (USN) budget requests include USD16.2 billion for the procurement of 75 aircraft, modifications, spares, and support equipment, including 13 F-35Cs, 13 F-35Bs, and 15 CH-53Ks, according to budget documents released on 11 March.

However, the FY 2025 request represents a slight financial retreat for the USN, which requested USD17.3 billion in FY 2024 for 88 aircraft, including 19 F-35Cs and 16 F-35Bs. In addition, the USN now plans to rephase the development of F/A-XX across the Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP), budget documents show.

“We're still committed to the F/A-XX,” Rear Admiral Ben Reynolds, deputy assistant secretary of the navy for budget and director of the USN Fiscal Management Division, said during an 8 March media briefing of the proposed budget. [...] The USN plans to buy 82 F-35Cs and 82 F-35Bs across the FYDP, the budget documents show.