America class amphibious assault ship
_-_050718-O-0000X-001.jpg) Illustration of USS America (LHA-6) |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Pascagoula Yard |
| Operators: |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by: | Wasp class amphibious assault ship |
| Built: | 2013- |
| Building: | 1+1 in planning |
| Planned: | Uncertain - 2nd ship not yet funded |
| Completed: | 0 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | amphibious assault ship |
| Displacement: | Approx. 45,000 long tons (45,700 metric tonnes) full load |
| Length: | 844 feet (257.3 m) |
| Beam: | 106 feet (32.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | Two marine gas turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total brake horsepower, two 5,000 hp (3,700 kW) auxiliary propulsion motors. |
| Speed: | 20+ knots |
| Complement: | 65 officers, 994 enlisted 1,687 Marines (plus 184 surge) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
AN/SPQ-9B fire control radar AN/SPS-48E air search radar[1] |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
AN/SLQ-32B(V)2 2×Mk53 Nulka decoy launchers[1] |
| Armament: | 2× Rolling Airframe Missile launchers 2× Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile launchers 2× 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 1B mounts 7× twin .50 BMG machine guns |
| Aircraft carried: | F-35B Lightning II MV-22B Osprey CH-53E Super Stallion or CH-53K Super Stallion UH-1Y Venom AH-1Z Viper MH-60S Seahawk |
| Aviation facilities: | Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS)[2] |
The America class amphibious assault ships (formerly the LHA(R) class) of the United States Navy are designed to put ashore a Marine Expeditionary Brigade using helicopters and MV-22B Osprey tiltrotors, supported by F-35B Lightning II strike fighters and attack helicopters. The first unit will be delivered in 2013, replacing USS Peleliu (LHA-5) of the Tarawa class. The America design is based on the USS Makin Island (LHD-8), but the Flight 0 ships have no well deck and smaller medical spaces to allow more room for aviation facilities.
Although they only carry helicopters and STOVL aircraft, at 45,000 tons the Americas are a similar size to the catapult-equipped aircraft carriers of China, France and Russia. They can be used as dedicated carriers; the Flight 0 ships can carry 20 F-35B but subsequent members of the class will carry fewer aircraft.[citation needed]
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[edit] Design
The design is based on the USS Makin Island (LHD-8), itself an improved version of the Wasp class amphibious assault ship. Approximately 45% of the Flight 0 design is based on LHD-8, with the well deck removed to allow more room for aircraft and aviation fuel.[2] The typical aircraft complement for the first two vessels is expected to be 12 MV-22B Osprey transports, 6 STOVL F-35B Lightning II attack aircraft, 4 CH-53K heavy transport helicopters, 7 AH-1Z/UH-1Y attack helicopters and 2 Navy MH-60S "Knighthawks" for air-sea rescue.[1] The exact makeup of the ship's aircraft complement will vary according to its mission. It can carry 20 F-35B and 2 MH-60S[1] to serve as a small aircraft carrier as demonstrated by LHD operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom.[3]
Subsequent vessels in the class will have a well deck[4] in the stern to house landing craft like on the Tarawa and Wasp class amphibious assault ships. This means they will have less room for aircraft, but the Early Operational Assessment of 2005 criticised the Flight 0 design because the expanded aviation facilities meant it had no well deck, reduced vehicle stowage and medical spaces were reduced by two-thirds compared to the LHDs.[1] Before he became Under Secretary of the Navy, Robert O. Work questioned the utility of a design without a well deck.[5] The Landing Platform Helicopter concept had failed when the helicopters encountered an anti-air threat off Lebanon in the late 1970s, and troops had to be moved onto ships with well decks.[5] The Marines are now more worried about anti-ship attacks so prefer to keep the ships further offshore and land troops using long-ranged V-22 transports. The V-22 is much bigger than the helicopters used in the past, so the America displaces twice as much as the old Iwo Jima class.[5]
The beam of 106 ft is dictated by the Panamax criterion to pass through the Panama Canal. The Congressional Budget Office found that LH(X) class ships would be more cost effective to build as nuclear powered if the price of oil would be expected to reach $140 a barrel by 2040.[6]
A modified version of the America design, designated MPF(F) LHA(R) or T-LHA(R), was proposed for two ships of the Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future).[7] The MPF(F) is the Navy's concept for a "sea base" to support operations ashore from 2025.[8] As such these two ships would have been operated by civilian crew of the Military Sealift Command, and not fitted with weapons.[7] Funding for the MPF(F) LHA(R) was refused by the Senate Armed Services Committee in the FY2008 budget[7] and the Navy will now build standard Americas as part of the amphibious fleet.[8]
LHX was a ship proposed in the late 1990s to replace the Tarawas, with a dry deck for hovercraft rather than a floodable well dock. After the millennium the LH(X), the Amphibious Assault Ship Future Replacement, was mooted to replace all the LHDs.[9] The new LH(X) could be an America Flight 2 with a well deck and a reduced island design, giving 20% more deck capacity.[9] This would remove the current restriction on V-22's landing on spots 5 and 6 and allow an additional 4 MV-22B, 3 F-35B or 3 CH-53K to use the deck. In 2008, procurement of Flight 2 was planned for 2024[9] but the current budget situation may dictate otherwise.
[edit] History
The program started in July 2001,[2] with development starting in October 2005,[2] the production decision was made in January 2006[2] and construction of LHA-6 began in December 2008.[2] The keel-laying ceremony was on 17 July 2009[3] with delivery originally planned for August 2012.[2] As of 2009 delivery was planned for February 2013[2] and initial capability for February 2014,[2] but delivery has now been further delayed into FY2014.[4]
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding was awarded $48.1m for "additional planning and advanced engineering services in support of the LHA replacement (LHA[R]) Flight 0 amphibious assault ship (LHA 7)" on 28 October 2010, to run until May 2012.[10] It is tentatively scheduled for delivery in 2017. In January 2011 development problems led to the F-35B program being placed on probation for two years, and plans for LHA-7 could change if the F-35B is cancelled.[11]
[edit] See also
- French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91) - a similar-sized CATOBAR carrier 858 ft long and ~40,000 tons
- Midway class aircraft carrier - US Navy class of the Cold War 968 ft long and 45,000 tons
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e "LHA 6 (formerly LHA(R)) New Amphibious Assault Ship" (pdf). DOT&E. 2008. p. 149. http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2008/pdf/navy/2008lha6.pdf.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i GAO-09-326SP 'Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs', U.S. Government Accountability Office, 30 March 2009, http://www.gao.gov/htext/d09326sp.html
- ^ a b "Keel Laid for Latest Addition to Multimission-Capable Amphibious Fleet". United States Navy. 18 July 2009. http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=47036. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ a b Stackley, Sean J. (16 March 2011). "Statement before the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces of the House Armed Forces Committee on Amphibious Operations". http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=20d0a26b-288e-4f26-b483-77af93eeafa8.
- ^ a b c Jean, Grace V. (September 2008). "Marines Question the Utility of Their New Amphibious Warship". National Defense Magazine (National Defense Industrial Association). http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2008/September/Pages/MarinesQuestiontheUtilityof.aspx.
- ^ "The Cost-Effectiveness of Nuclear Power for Navy Surface Ships." CBO, May 2011.
- ^ a b c "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008". Library of Congress. 5 June 2007. http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/T?&report=sr077&dbname=110&.
- ^ a b Stackley, Sean J. (25 May 2011). "Statement before the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces of the House Armed Forces Committee on Navy Shipbuilding" (pdf). http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2011/05%20May/Stackley-McCoy-Galinis%2005-25-11.pdf.
- ^ a b c "Systematic approach to an enduring requirement" (ppt). US Marines Corps. 26 August 2008. http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/seabasing/resources/QuadCharts/Amphibious%20Assault%20Ship_Future%20Replacement_LH(X).ppt. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
- ^ "Contract". Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), U.S. Department of Defense. 28 October 2010. http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4397.
- ^ Cavas, Christopher P. (8 January 2011). "Fleet will feel effects of major Corps cuts". Navy Times. http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/01/navy-marine-cuts-affect-fleet-010811.
[edit] External links
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