US Launch its Gigantic New $3 Billion Amphibious Carrier Ship

as the very name of amphibious assault ships implies this vessel is capable of performing a large number of different missions today we'll tell you about the newest class of amphibious assault ships america class and find out why exactly they're needed how they differ from aircraft carriers and what the future of this class of landing ship holds the america class also known as the lha replacement is the world's largest amphibious assault ship close in overall dimensions to the size of an aircraft carrier the main purpose of these types of ships is to land a marine expeditionary unit on shore using a group of bell boeing v22 ospreys with vtol and stl capabilities supported by the av-8b harrier 2. the latest f-35 lightning ii v or stl fighters or attack helicopters this mini aircraft carrier can carry an aviation group of 6 f-35b lightning 2 fighters 12 v22 ospreys 4 ah-1z heavy transport helicopters 4 ch-53k heavy lift cargo helicopters 3 uh-1y utility helicopters and two mh-60s nighthawks for air sea rescue operations and if you pull the ospreys from the deck the ship could accommodate three times as many f-35bs that being said the exact composition of the aircraft found on an american class vessel varies depending on the missions it carries out according to military experts the transportation of lightning 2 fighters is a game changer for the united states navy as it will make preparing for offensive operations by the f-35s much more difficult for america's enemies thanks to its design features this ship allows for v or stol stovl and vtol aircraft to operate on its deck the america class will soon completely replace its predecessors represented by the ships of the terroir and washed glasses when creating the first america class ship engineers expanded the hangar deck adding two wide bays to it each of which houses a traveling bridge crane for aircraft maintenance furthermore the project included a reconfigurable command and control center an onboard hospital additional fuel depots and aviation support zones the uss america lha6 was the first of the two planned flight zero vessels it is an aircraft-oriented and modified copy of the wasp class uss mackin island lha8 since 2009 two america class vessels have been put into operation uss america lha6 and uss tripoli lha7 a third uss bougainville lha8 is currently under construction engineers of the uss bougainville intend to return the well deck into the vessel without compromising its aircraft capabilities in addition to the three aforementioned vessels the us navy has plans to add 12 more ships to its fleet however the last five models that will join the fleet from 2035 to 2051 haven't even been officially named yet when comparing america to wasp it's hard to miss the fact that engineers were inspired by the latest vessel of the wasp class mackin island with its two gas turbines since 45 of america's flight zero design was borrowed from it the only thing that didn't find a home in the first two america incarcerations was the well deck which is a feature of the mackin island engineers decided to forego the well deck in favor of more space for aircraft and their spare parts weapons and fuel america uses the same jp5 fuel used by the av-8b harrier v22 osprey and the various helicopters the vessel transports this greatly simplifies the question of fuel storage distribution and use other key differences between america and wasp include an enlarged hangar deck improved aviation maintenance facilities and expanded aviation storage areas one of the main improvements america class made in comparison to its predecessors was the implementation of the c4 isr battle management system that allows for the possibility of electronic reconfiguration according to engineers preliminary estimates this system will allow a vessel to remain in service much longer than wasp class ships now that we have an idea of how america has managed to outperform its ancestors let's explore the reasons many still confuse these ships with aircraft carriers the architecture of america ships has been referred to more than once as a base platform for a light aircraft carrier and in fact they're even larger than the small aircraft carriers conceptualized in the sea control ship scs project of the 1970s the cost of which is estimated at more than 552 million dollars adjusted for inflation but which was cancelled after cuts to the us navy's budget one retired u.s navy captain peter pagano underlined the similarity between america and ships of the fcs project and essex class aircraft carriers in an article in his opinion america is a perfect prototype for a promising light aircraft carrier but in order to sufficiently handle the tasks unique to carriers the vessel would still be in need of some serious modifications after all even lacking a well deck a significant part of america class vessels is allocated to the deployment of amphibious troops up to 1870 infantry men their weapons hovercraft and floating personnel carriers of the marine corps two lcu landing vessels three lcac hovercrafts or six lcm8 mechanized landing crafts are involved in deploying marine expeditionary units in addition anywhere from 40 in standard configuration or 61 in maximum configuration aav7 apcs are also deployed these are excellent additions to a universal landing ship but are unfavorable for a modern aircraft carrier the issue is that as the name implies an aircraft carrier is primarily intended for aviation operations and as such must have the maximum number of resources and reserves to meet these needs therefore accommodations for landing troops are for a carrier nothing more than dead weight and finding a compromise while remaining within the framework of what makes a universal landing ship is almost impossible especially considering the well deck has been returned to the bougainville as mentioned earlier and it should be noted the duration and degree to which the aviation functionalities of an america-class vessel can continue to operate will suffer greatly if it is used as an aircraft carrier now let's take a closer look at the exact ways a universal landing ship is inferior to aircraft carriers it's funny but the first point is maneuverability you might be wondering how can a smaller vessel possibly have less maneuverability than a giant aircraft carrier well as it turns out it can aircraft carriers are equipped with onboard nuclear reactors while america glass ships run on fossil fuels as such even the nimitz-class carriers move 40 faster 35 miles per hour to america's 25 miles per hour in other words the leviathan can travel up to 700 miles in a day with limitless endurance while america will constantly hunger for more fuel universal landing ships are inferior to carriers in their spaciousness an air wing located on the large deck of an aircraft carrier often includes a couple of squadrons of fa-18s or the newest f-35 fighter jets a squadron of radio controlled aircraft radar equipped aircraft and a variety of helicopters if we're talking about vessels of the gerald r ford class then there could be 90 such aircraft even the latest america class model capable of carrying about 20 av-8bs or f-35bs and two mh-60s hails in comparison to the carrying capacity of a carrier's massive deck the gerald r ford air wing is capable of carrying out about 270 flights in a single day a light aircraft carrier can struggle to achieve even a fifth of this number it's also worth considering the limited amount of usable space and lack of armament storage space on aircraft carriers these problems simply don't come up the america class is not as universal as it seemed at first glance one of the main advantages of a carrier over its lighter counterparts is the diversity of its air wing this allows for the ability to carry out several missions at the same time to protect the fleet with the help of air defenses and to suppress enemy communication devices a light aircraft carrier is lacking in its air wing diversity and ability to carry out a wide range of missions especially when it is vital that these missions are carried out simultaneously and not one after another it's worth mentioning that the v22 which the america class carries can be modified to run interference or conduct aerial surveillance but the ship itself will be too crowded to quickly adopt to the challenges that might arise in parallel with this smaller carriers are inferior in their survivability america class ships are capable of generating only a fraction of the power that the nuclear reactors on giant aircraft carriers can produce this has a direct effect on the survivability of the vessel since the power is insufficient to deal with more advanced radar and weaponry that the us military has been testing for decades and is striving to include in its arsenal furthermore there are fewer water tight compartments and protective systems and the ability to damage the crew cabin which makes a vessel more vulnerable to an enemy attack this stability of the america class amphibious assault ships also raises concerns when a warship is powered by fossil fuels it is vitally important that it has regular access to tankers to replenish its reserves aircraft carriers on the other hand require refueling once during their long service life this brings up another issue of ensuring a safe rendezvous between a landing ship and a tanker when in hostile waters this is already starting to resemble the plot of a mission impossible movie and it will be an extremely difficult task for air support to provide a safe space for the ship to be refueled not to mention that nuclear energy is simply cheaper and more efficient the only significant and controversial point is the cost of constructing an aircraft carrier compared to an amphibious assault ship the cost of one gerald r ford class carrier is about 12.8 billion dollars plus another 4.7 billion dollars in r d the cost of constructing three america class vessels on the other hand totaled 10.094 billion dollars about 3.4 billion dollars per ship so what do you think of the america class amphibious assault ships could they become a lightweight analog of the monstrous aircraft carriers let us know what you think in the comments also if you enjoyed the video don't forget to leave a like below subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications to stay in touch see you soon

Channel: Wild Iron

Views: 1,356,140

Rating: 4.4523773 out of 5

Keywords: Amphibious Assault Ship, Aircraft Carrier, Wet Dock, LCAC, Hovercraft, V-22 Osprey, Helicopter, US Navy, US Marine Corp, documentary, amphibious assault ships, new amphibious assault ship, america-class amphibious assault ship, uss america lha 6, USS Tripoli, USS Bougainville, New 'Assault Ship, us navy, navy, south china sea, us military, launching F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, Joint Strike Fighters, aircraft, aircraft carrier, America-class, amphibious, uss america, military video

Id: _kaGcyznzx4

Length: 13min 31sec (811 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 23 2021