U.S Navy’s F-35C are now conducting aerial maneuvers, weapons integration, flight take-off
& landing missions procedures and other war operations from Nimitz-Class carrier
Vice Adm. Mat Winter, F-35 Program Executive Officer, stated in a written statement,
“The start of formal operational testing is a milestone more than 18 years in the making.
While aircraft are in operational test, the F-35 Joint Program Office will continue to
support the delivery of phased capability improvements and modernization of the air
system.”
The F35Cs are planned to be operationally deployed to the carrier by 2021.
In this video, Defense Updates will analyze WHY NIMITZ CLASS SUPPER CARRIER DEPLOYING
F35C WILL BE ONE OF THE WORST NIGHTMARE FOR RUSSIA & CHINA?
So, let us get into the details.
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Nimitz-class supercarriers are currently the backbone of U.S career fleet and remain so
till the Ford class carrier slowly replace them.
The U.S has 10 of this in active service.
The class was designed to be an improvement on previous U.S. aircraft carriers, in particular,
the Enterprise and Forrestal-class.
Nimitz-class vessels are some of the largest vessels constructed in the world.
Each of the warships has a displacement of 100000 tonnes, and an overall length of 332.8
m or 1,092 feet.
To give viewers a perspective, it is about 3 football fields long.
Nimitz-class has a flight deck of 4.5 acres.
It uses 4 elevators that are 3,880 sq ft or 360 m2 each to move planes between the flight
deck and the hangar bay.
Nimitz class is powered by two A4W nuclear reactors, kept in separate compartments.
These power 4 propeller shafts that weigh around 30 tonnes each and can propel the ship
at speeds over 30 knots (56 km/h)
Since Nimitz class uses nuclear power, it is doesn't need constant refueling in regular
intervals like traditional non-nuclear-powered vessels.
It can operate 20 years with one refueling.
Nimitz class supper-carriers practically have unlimited range & endurance.
Nimitz class possesses a multitude of different radars including electronically scanned array
3D radars.
It is equipped with 16 to 24 RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles.
RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, designed to
defend against anti-ship missiles.
Its range is 19 km.
Close in weapon (CIWS) duties are performed by Phalanx & RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile.
Phalanx CIWS has a 4500 /min rate of fire.
RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles have speed in excess of 2 Mach.
Nimitz class warships are very well armored with Kevlar protection in vital areas.
It is also divided into compartments that can be sealed in case there is a hit from
torpedoes or anti-ship missiles limiting the damage.
Nimitz class carries can carry a flight group of more than 80 aircraft, including F-18 jet
fighters, E-2D Hawkeye surveillance planes and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft
apart from several kinds of supporting assets.
F-18 jets are twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable 4th generation multirole fighter aircraft.
They have a payload of 7700 kg or 17000 lbs which can be used to carry ground attack weapons
as well as air-to-air missiles.
The versatility of the aircraft can be gauged from the fact that on the first day of Operation
Desert Storm, two F 18, each carrying four 2,000 lb. bombs, shot down 2 Iraqi Migs and
then proceeded to deliver their bombs on target.
Northrop Grumman’s E-2C Hawkeye is a carrier-capable AWACS aircraft.
It is designed to give long-range warning of incoming aerial threats.
Secondary roles include command and control, land and maritime surveillance, as well as
communication relay.
It has 360-degree long-range radar that is effective over open seas, shorelines and land.
These provide excellent situational awareness to the supercarrier.
The EA-18G Growler is an airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft.
The Growler is a derivative of the combat-proven two-seat F/A-18 Hornet, the US Navy’s maritime
strike aircraft.
The aircraft's missions are mainly electronic attack (EA) and Suppression of Enemy Air Defence
(SEAD), particularly at the start and on-going early stages of hostilities.
The Growler is equipped with the APG-79 multi-mode radar with passive detection mode and active
radar suppression.
The radar is capable of jamming enemy radars by flooding it with own radar signals.
These enable Growler to degrade enemy air defense.
Growler can deploy air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.
As it can be very well understood that the Nimitz class supercarriers are a superbly
well-rounded package.
But the inclusion of F 35C will raise its capability to another level.
The F 35 Lightning II is a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighters developed
by Lockheed Martin of United States.
The F-35C is the carrier variant.
The F-35C brings stealth attack technology to the carrier flight deck for the first time.
There is no other aircraft that is stealthy and can operate from carriers.
F-35C enable Nimitz class supercarriers to initiate attack even against advanced enemy
air defenses and function in extremely high-threat environments.
It has a range of 1188 nautical miles that is 2,200 km or 1367 mi and can carry a wide
variety of air to land and air to air missile.
The arsenal includes GBU-32 and GBU-12 air-dropped bombs, AIM-120 and AIM-9x air-to-air missiles
and a 25mm cannon.
F 35B like the other variants can also act as a force multiplier.
It is compatible with the Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air network, or NIFC-CA.
NIFC-CA basically is a network architecture that combines several different sensors, datelines,
and munitions.
NIFC-CA allows F 35s to pass targeting data to other military assets like a warship armed
with SM-6 missiles which can then use that data to hit the targets.
With F 35s onboard, the Nimitz class will be even more deadlier than in present form.