USS America (LHA-6)
_-_050718-O-0000X-001.jpg) Artist conception of USS America (LHA-6) |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS America |
| Namesake: | America |
| Awarded: | 1 June 2007[1] |
| Builder: | Northrop Grumman Ship Systems[1] |
| Laid down: | 17 July 2009 (Ceremony)[2] |
| Sponsored by: | Lynne Pace[2] |
| Commissioned: | 2013 (estimated)[3] |
| Status: | Under construction |
| Notes: | Program cost, $6.8 billion[4] Unit cost, $3.4 billion (FY 2011)[4] |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | America-class amphibious assault ship[2] |
| Displacement: | Approx. 45,000 long tons (45,700 metric tons) full load |
| Length: | 844 feet (257.3 meters) |
| Beam: | 106 feet (32.3 meters) |
| Propulsion: | Two marine gas turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total brake horsepower, two 5,000 horsepower auxiliary propulsion motors. |
| Speed: | 20+ knots (37+ km/h) |
| Complement: | 65 officers, 994 enlisted 1,687 Marines (plus 184 surge) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
AN/SPQ-9B fire control AN/SPS-48E airsearch radar[5] |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
AN/SLQ-32B(V)2 2×Mk53 NULKA decoy launchers[5] |
| Armament: | 2× Rolling Airframe Missile launchers 2× Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile launchers 2× 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts 7× twin .50 BMG machine guns |
| Aircraft carried: | MV-22B Osprey F-35B Lightning II CH-53K Super Stallion UH-1Y Venom AH-1Z Viper MH-60S Seahawk |
USS America (LHA-6) will be the first of the America-class amphibious assault ships for the U.S. Navy. She will be delivered in 2013, replacing USS Peleliu (LHA-5) of the Tarawa class. Her mission is to act as the flagship of an expeditionary strike group or amphibious ready group, carrying a Marine Expeditionary Unit into battle and putting them ashore with helicopters and V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, supported by F-35B Lightning II aircraft and helicopter gunships.
Her design is based on USS Makin Island (LHD-8) but with no well deck and smaller medical spaces to allow more room for aviation facilities. With a displacement of 45,000 tons she is as big as the aircraft carriers of other nations, and can fulfil similar missions when configured with 20 F-35B strike fighters.
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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.[6] Removal of the well deck for landing craft provides for an extended hangar deck with two significantly-wider high bay areas, each fitted with an overhead crane for aircraft maintenance.
These changes were required in order to operate the F-35B and MV-22 which are considerably larger than the aircraft they replace.[7] The typical aircraft complement 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.[5] 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[5] to serve as a small aircraft carrier as demonstrated by LHD operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom.[2]
Other enhancements include a reconfigurable command and control complex, an on-board hospital, additional aviation fuel capacity, and numerous aviation support spaces.[8]
[edit] History
USS America is the fourth American warship to bear this name.[8] The U.S. Navy awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation's Ingalls Shipyard Division a $2.4 billion fixed-price incentive contract for the detailed design and construction of LHA-6, primarily at the company's shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.[8] The production decision was made in January 2006[6] and construction of LHA-6 began in December 2008.[6] The keel-laying ceremony was on 17 July 2009[2] with delivery originally planned for August 2012.[6] As of 2009 delivery was planned for February 2013[6] and initial capability for February 2014,[6] but delivery has now been further delayed into FY2014.[9]
[edit] See also
- USS America (CV-66) - Kitty Hawk supercarrier decommissioned in 1996
[edit] References
- ^ a b "America". Naval Vessel Register. 30 June 2008. http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/LHA6.htm. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "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.
- ^ "General Characteristics, LHA(R) Class LHA (6)." United States Navy
- ^ a b Analysis: Fiscal year 2012 Pentagon spending request, Cost of war, 2011, http://costofwar.com/en/publications/2011/analysis-fiscal-year-2012-pentagon-spending-request/.
- ^ a b c d "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 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
- ^ Jean, Grace V. Marines Question the Utility of Their New Amphibious Warship National Defense Industrial Association, September 2008
- ^ a b c "Navy Names New Amphibious Assault Ship". United States Navy. 30 June 2008. http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=38154. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ 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.
[edit] External links
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