Hello! Welcome to the Tech News channel! One of the greatest challenges to using aviation
in war is getting the aircraft to their destination. This is where Aircraft Carriers come in. They
became famous after playing a key role in the air combat of World War II. A prime example
was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On that fateful day for the United States, 2,403
Americans lost their lives, and 21 ships and 347 aircraft were either destroyed or damaged.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor not only marked the entry of the United States into
World War II, but also heralded an age of domination for the aircraft carrier. The devastating
strike on a remote naval base, thousands of miles from the Japanese homeland, served as
an example of the axiom "war knows no boundaries." As of 2022, there are only 21 operational
aircraft carriers in the world. The US has 11 of them, about as many as the rest of the
world combined. Well, today we’re going to take a deeper look into these modern aircraft
carriers by country. The US Navy operates two classes of so-called
"super aircraft carriers" - the Nimitz and the Ford.
The Nimitz class, consisting of ten ships, is colossal in size. Each ship is 135 feet
wide at its widest point, and nearly 1100 feet long. A Nimitz standing on either end
would be taller than the Eiffel Tower! These ships are so enormous that they have shopping
centers for the crew members living on board. Even more impressive is that a Nimitz-class
aircraft carrier weighs around 109,000 tons, yet is still capable of floating on water!
The “USS Nimitz”, the first of its class, entered service in 1975. It was designated
as an anti-submarine defense system. In September 2003, the first beam of the tenth and final
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was laid. Like most of its predecessors, the ship was named
in honor of a US President, this time, "George H.W. Bush". The aircraft carrier entered service
in 2009. The George Bush is the most upgraded and modernized Nimitz-class aircraft carrier
in the U.S. Air Force. The ship has an upgraded island superstructure
that includes a new radar turret, navigation system upgrades, communications system upgrades,
and armored windows. The island is smaller and positioned further aft to improve flight
deck access and reduce electronic interference. The 5th generation electronic warfare system
detects enemy radar emissions using two sets of antennas. The system can determine a threat
and its direction. It then lets out a warning signal and interacts with the ship's countermeasure
systems. The Nimitz is equipped with a digital data processing system that can receive real-time
images from onboard sensors. The upgraded radar allows for the tracking and detection
of submarine periscopes, and the ship is equipped with an air surveillance radar developed by
Raytheon. The ship also sports an impressive armament. It has three MK29 missile launcher
mounts. The MK29 is an air defense system that fires “Sea Sparrow” ground-to-air
missiles. The missile has a range of 9 miles. The Nimitz is also equipped with the “Rolling
Airframe Missile” system, which provides protection at short range.
Let’s not forget about its four, six-barrelled 20mm Phalanx MK15 weapon systems. This automatic
gun can fire 3,000 rounds per minute with an effective range up to one mile.
The aircraft carrier is capable of launching one aircraft every 20 seconds.
The George H. W. Bush can reach a top speed of over 35 mph and can accommodate 3,184 personnel.
The "Gerald Ford" is the first transitional ship to a new class of aircraft carriers.
It entered service in July of 2017. The ship bears the title of the largest aircraft carrier
in the world, with a length of 1106 ft and a width of 2,455 ft.
The USS Gerald R. Ford incorporates state-of-the-art technologies, including a new multi-purpose
radar system, a volume search radar, and an open architecture information network (which
significantly reduces the needed number of crew members), and a new nuclear propulsion
system. Modern American aircraft carriers can typically
carry up to 75 aircraft, traditionally consisting of F-18 and F-35 fighters.
In the late 2000s, the UK began modernizing its aircraft carriers, resulting in the Queen
Elizabeth class of carriers, consisting of the "Queen Elizabeth" itself, and the "Prince
of Wales". These two aircraft carriers are the largest warships in the history of the
Royal Navy. The ship has two superstructures, one for
navigation and carrier control, and the other for flight control and air operations. The
islands can take over each other's functions if one of them is disabled. The ship's defensive
armament includes the Phalanx close combat system for air and missile defense, miniguns
for use against fast attack ships, and 30 mm small caliber automatic guns.
The Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales have a displacement of around 72,000 tons at full
capacity and a length of 919 feet, with a top speed of 29 mph. Each of the two Queen
Elizabeth-class ships will be capable of carrying forty aircraft, with a maximum of 36 F-35
stealth fighters. In mid-2021, the Queen Elizabeth embarked on her first cruise as part of Carrier
Strike Group 21. The ship sailed east to Guam, carrying out combat missions against the Islamic
State. The "Admiral Kuznetsov" is the world's largest
aircraft carrier with a conventional engine, as well as the only watercraft in Russia with
a flat deck. The ship was built at the Nikolaev shipyards of Ukraine during the Cold War.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ship was rarely used, but the Russian president
began using it as a symbol of Russia's reemergence onto the world stage. It was used for demonstrations,
and was also sent to Syria as a deterrent. However, in November 2018, the ship was damaged
when a 70-ton crane fell on it. As of 2022, the Admiral Kuznetsov has been taken out of
service while it undergoes renovations. The Kuznetsov is theoretically a combat-ready
ship that can take up to 24 Su-33 and MiG-29K fighters on board, as well as six helicopters.
China has two aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong.
The "Liaoning" has an interesting geographical history. Originally, the USSR had planned
to build a second Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier for the Soviet Navy, but the ship
never entered service. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ship initially went
to Ukraine, but in 1998, it was officially acquired by China to accommodate a floating
theme park. However, the aircraft carrier was later modernized and given the name "Liaoning"
in honor of a Chinese naval commander of the 17th century. In September 2012, the ship
was commissioned for the Chinese Navy. It is currently classified as a training vessel
designed to train Chinese naval pilots and the Chinese Navy. It has a displacement of
up to 67,000 tons at full capacity and a length of 998 feet. The Liaoning can carry up to
26 J-15 fighter jets and an additional 12 helicopters.
China's second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, is almost identical to the Liaoning, as it
was built according to the former’s design. What’s unique about the Shandong is that
it was built from scratch in a Chinese shipyard. The aircraft carrier is protected by a Chinese-made,
seven-barreled 30mm Gatling gun. It is also armed with ground-to-air missiles. The ship’s
electronic defenses are state-of-the-art. This aircraft carrier is 1000 feet long and
246 feet wide with a total displacement of 70,000 tons. It can carry up to 44 aircraft
on its deck. The Charles de Gaulle is France's first nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier. It is the country’s only aircraft carrier and has been in service since
2001. Its construction began during the Cold War. It is scheduled to be replaced in the
2030s by a new carrier currently known in French as the Porte-Avions de Nouvelle Génération.
With a displacement of 75,000 tons, the new ship will be 50 percent larger and will be
able to deploy a combination of piloted aircraft and unmanned drones.
The Indian Navy also has an aircraft carrier in its portfolio - The “Vikramaditya”
This ship was previously at the disposal of the Soviet Navy and later the Russian Navy
under the names "Baku" and the "Admiral Gorshkov", respectively. The battleship was then purchased
by India in January 2004. The Vikramaditya was converted into a sloping
deck aircraft carrier equipped with catapults and a braking device for the Indian Navy.
The ship, with similar dimensions as the “Shandong” and the “de Gaulle”, has a displacement
of 45,000 tons and is capable of carrying up to 28 MiG-29 multi-purpose fighters and
Kamov helicopters. The flagship of the Italian Navy, the Cavour,
is an aircraft carrier with a gross displacement of 30,000 tons and equipped with several defense
systems, like short-range defense weapons, cannons, and decoy missile launchers. The
ship is 800 feet in length, and 128 feet wide. Including the flight deck, the Cavour can
accommodate up to 20 aircraft, as well as some helicopters. Its maximum speed is just
19 mph, however, provided by six diesel generators. In peacetime, aircraft carriers can also serve
humanitarian purposes. The USS Abraham Lincoln took part in the aftermath of the 2004 Southeast
Asian tsunami, and the USS Harry Truman helped deliver fresh water and supplies after Hurricane
Katrina in 2005. The USS Carl Vinson provided food, medicines, hospital services, and drinking
water for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Of course, the primary purpose of modern aircraft
carriers is to provide large-scale surveillance and combat support anywhere in the world.
The United States currently has six groups of aircraft carriers stationed around the
world, which stand ready for action at a moment's notice.
That's all for today. We hope you enjoyed the video. Which aircraft carrier surprised
you the most, and which do you think is best-suited for naval service? Leave your answers in the
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