10 long weeks after a massive coronavirus outbreak sidelined one of the U.S Navy’s
signature warships, the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt has returned to sea and is conducting
military operations in the Pacific region.
The warship had departed from San Diego on January 17 but had to pull into Apra Harbor,
Guam, on March 27 and immediately implemented put into action a phased and systematic strategy
to tackle a COVID-19 outbreak among its crew of nearly 5,000 Sailors.
But things have improved considerably.
Roosevelt team recovered its entire crew and requalified the air wing via carrier qualification
to set out on the mission.
The ship left Naval Base Guam , entered the Philippine Sea and is now deployed in the
Indo-Pacific from as part of U.S. 7th Fleet.
The warship is designated to provide maritime security in the region in accordance with
international law and customs.
Capt. Carlos Sardiello, Theodore Roosevelt’s commanding officer said,
“Returning to our mission in the Indo-Pacific after completing carrier qualifications is
a significant milestone in Theodore Roosevelt’s conditions-based recovery plan.
We did not give up the ship and now our focus is on combat readiness, safety, and wellness
of the crew.”
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why USS Theodore Roosevelt getting back to operation
will clip China’s wings ? Let’s get started.
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China claims almost 90% of the South China Sea through its so-called nine-dash line map.
It says that it has "indisputable sovereignty" over the area.
The wide-reaching demarcation which was rejected by an arbitral tribunal at The Hague in July
2016.
Vietnam along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan have disputed these claims.
The route is significant as about $5 trillion in trade through shipping passes each year.
The sea also has alleged 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas.
China has tried imposing a unilateral decision as per which all ships & aircraft navigating
in the area need to identify itself to the Chinese military.
Chinese Navy has heckled vessels of smaller nations like Vietnam several times in the
last couple of years.
China has also created trouble in border with India recently which is seen my many analysts
as an attempt to divert attention from the pressure it is facing because of the global
pandemic.
USS Theodore Roosevelt is a Nimitz class supercarrier.
Nimitz-class aircraft carriers were designed to be improvements on previous U.S. aircraft
carriers, in particular, the Enterprise and Forrestal-class vessels
All 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers were constructed between 1968 and 2006 at Newport
News Shipbuilding Company, Virginia, in the largest dry-dock in the western hemisphere.
USS Theodore Roosevelt is the 4th ship of her class and was commissioned on 25th Oct
1986.
She is named in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States.
Nimitz class supercarriers are some of the largest vessels constructed.
USS Theodore Roosevelt has a displacement of 100,000 tonnes and an overall length of
332.8 m (1,092 feet).
To give viewers a perspective, it is about 3 football fields long.
USS Theodore Roosevelt is powered by two A4W nuclear reactors, kept in separate compartments.
These power 4 propeller shafts and can produce a maximum speed of over 30 knots or 56 km/h.
As a result of the use of nuclear power, the ship is capable of operating continuously
for over 20 years without refueling and is predicted to have a service life of over 50
years.
Practically it has unlimited range & endurance.
USS Theodore Roosevelt being a Nimitz class supercarrier possesses a multitude of different
radars including electronically scanned array 3D radars.
It is equipped with 16 to 24 RIM-7 Sea Sparrow.
RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a US ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system,
primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles.
Its range is 19 km or 11.8.
miles.
Close In Weapon System (CIWS) duties are performed by Phalanx & RIM-116 Rolling Airframe missile.
The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile also known as RAM is a small, lightweight, infrared
homing surface-to-air missile used primarily as a point-defense weapon against anti-ship
cruise missiles.
The missile is so named because it rolls around its longitudinal axis to stabilize its flight
path, much like a bullet fired from a rifled barrel.
It has a range of 9 km or 5.6 mi and speed of Mach 2.
The Phalanx weapon system is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled, radar-guided gun that
can defeat anti-ship missiles and other close-in threats on land and at sea.
It is a last ditch defensive weapon and is designed to defeat anti-ship missiles and
“close-in” threats that have pierced other lines of defense.
It has a range of 2.2 mi or 3.5 km and has a rate of fire of 4,500 rounds/minute.
USS Theodore Roosevelt has a 63.5 mm or 2.5 inch Kevlar armor over vitals parts.
Theodore Roosevelt and those Nimitz-class vessels completed after her have slight structural
differences from the earlier carriers (USS Nimitz, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, and USS
Carl Vinson) and improved protection for ordnance storage in her magazines.
The Nimitz class supercarrier's main offensive force consists of the F/A-18 Hornet and F/A-18
Super Hornet.
USS Theodore Roosevelt can carry around 60 of these and will be the trump card when it
comes to enforcing air dominance.
These are twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable 4th generation multirole fighter
aircraft and can 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/A-18 Hornets, each carrying four 2,000 lb. bombs, shot down two Iraqi
Migs and then proceeded to deliver their bombs on target.
Apart from these fighter jets, USS Theodore Roosevelt has EA-18G Growler & E-2C Hawkeye.
The EA-18G Growler is an airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft.
It is capable of electronic attack (EA) and Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD), particularly
at the start and on-going early stages of hostilities.
Northrop Grumman’s E-2C Hawkeye is a carrier-capable AWACS aircraft.
It is designed to give long-range warning of incoming aerial threats and has a secondary
role of command and control.
The flotilla of aircraft has enough firepower to mount a credible offensive against any
Chinese misadventure.
Absence of USS Theodore Roosevelt had invigorated the Chinese Military.
Chinese action in the recent time seem to suggest that the Covid 19 situation was being
seen an opportunity by them.
Chinese strategists felt that since most nations were looking inward in this challenging times,
it would be able to leverage the situation.
The latest political maneuvering strongly suggest the same.
Overtime China has proved to be very cunning and it has often used deceit to further its
agenda.
USS Theodore Roosevelt’s presence near Chinese homeland will be a deterrent as it can project
lot of fire power from the sea.
It is important to note that the sugecarrier is always supported by multiple destroyer,
cruisers, submarine and other assisting vessels.
A task force like that has massive capability and can handle any Chinese action.
China has already started deescalation process with India and it is likely that China now
have to step back as it come to the terms with the presence of USS Theodore Roosevelt.