America-class amphibious assault ship
_June_2012.JPG) USS America (LHA-6), after her launch
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | list error: <br /> list (help) Huntington Ingalls Industries Ingalls Shipbuilding Division |
| Operators |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by | Wasp class amphibious assault ship |
| Built | 2013– |
| Planned | 5 |
| Building | (LHA-7 begins construction April 2013) |
| Completed | 1 |
| Active | 0 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | amphibious assault ship |
| Displacement | Approx. 45,000 long tons (45,700 metric tonnes) full load |
| Length | 844 feet (257.3 meters) |
| Beam | 106 feet (32.3 meters) |
| Propulsion | Two gas turbines, two shafts, with 70,000 total brake horsepower, and two 5,000 hp (3,700 kW) auxiliary propulsion engines. |
| Speed | 20 knots or possibly more |
| Complement | list error: <br /> list (help) 65 officers, 994 enlisted men 1,687 Marines |
| Sensors and processing systems | list error: <br /> list (help) AN/SPQ-9B fire control radar AN/SPS-48E air search radar[1] |
| Electronic warfare & decoys | list error: <br /> list (help) AN/SLQ-32B(V)2 two Mk53 Nulka decoy launchers[1] |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) Two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers two Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile launchers two Phalanx CIWS systems seven dual .50 caliber machine guns |
| Armor | none |
| Aircraft carried | list error: <br /> list (help) F-35B Lightning II MV-22B Osprey CH-53E Super Stallions OR Sikorsky CH-53K Super Stallion helicopters UH-1Y Venom AH-1Z Viper MH-60S Knighthawk |
| Aviation facilities | hangar deck |
The America class amphibious assault ships (formerly the LHA(R) class) of the U.S. Navy was designed to put ashore a Marine Expeditionary Unit using helicopters and MV-22B Osprey V/STOLs, supported by AV-8B Harrier or F-35 Lightning II V/STOL fighter planes and various attack helicopters. The first of these warships should be delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2013 to replace the USS Peleliu (LHA-5) of the Tarawa class amphibious assault ships. The design of the America-class was based on that of the USS Makin Island (LHD-8), the last ship of the Wasp-class, but the "Flight 0" ships of the America class will not have well decks, and they have smaller on-board hospitals in order to give more space for aviation uses.
Although they only carry helicopters and V/STOL aircraft, the USS America with a displacement of about 45,000 long tons is similar in size to the fixed wing aircraft carriers of France and India.
The America can be used as a small aircraft carrier with a squadron of jet fighters plus several multipurpose helicopters, such as the SH-60 Seahawk. She can carry about 20 AV-8B Harriers, F-35Bs, or a mixture of the two, but the future ships of this class, starting with LHA-8 will have smaller aircraft hangars to leave room for smaller than usual amphibious warfare well decks.[2]
Design
The design of the USS America is based on the USS Makin Island (LHD-8), herself an improved version of the Wasp class amphibious assault ships with gas turbine power. About 45 percent of the "Flight 0" design of this class is based on that of the Makin Island, but with her well deck omitted to allow more room for aircraft, their spare parts and weapons, and their fuel.[3] Note that the gas turbines of the Makin Island, the America, and her possible successors burn the same kind of fuel (JP-4) that is burned in the gas turbines of their helicopters, the jet engines of their AV-8B Harrier fixed-wing attack planes, the engines of the MV-22 Osprey aircraft that they can carry, and (in future ships), the gas turbines of the Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCACs) that they could carry in their well decks. All of this greatly simplifies the storage, distribution, and use of the fuels for these craft.
The typical aircraft complement for the first two vessels is expected to be 12 MV-22B Osprey transports, six STOVL F-35B Lightning II attack aircraft, four CH-53K heavy transport helicopters, seven AH-1Z/UH-1Y attack helicopters, and two Navy MH-60S "Knighthawks" for air-sea rescue.[1] The exact make-up of the ship's aircraft complements will vary according to her mission. She can carry about 20 AV-8Bs or F-35Bs, and two MH-60Ses[1] to serve as a small aircraft carrier as demonstrated by Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom.[4]
Any further warships in this class will also have a well deck for amphibious warfare[5] in their sterns to contain landing craft (such as the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) exactly as in the Tarawa class amphibious assault ships (LHA)s and the Wasp class amphibious assault ships.
The addition of a well deck will leave less space for aircraft on board the ships, but the "Early Operational Assessment" of 2005 criticized the "Flight 0" design because the expanded aviation facilities gave no space for a well deck. Also, the USS America has reduced stowage space for military vehicles, and the size of her hospital was reduced by two-thirds with respect to the Wasp-class ships.[1]
Before he became the Under Secretary of the Navy, Robert O. Work, also brought into question the usefulness of an amphibious warfare ship without a well deck.[6] The concept of the Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) had failed when their helicopters met antiaircraft systems off the coast of Lebanon during the late 1970s. In that case, Marines had to be moved first onto the warships that had well decks.[6]
The U.S. Marine Corps is now more concerned about attacks by antiship missile, hence the Commandant of the Marine Corps wants to keep the amphibious ships farther offshore. In that case Marines would be sent ashore in long-ranged MV-22 V/STOL aircraft. The MV-22 is significantly larger than the largest helicopters used by the Marine Corps and the Navy in the past. Hence, the America has twice the displacement of the much older Iwo Jima class amphibious assault ships (all of which are now decommissioned).[6]
Setting the beam of the America at 106 feet is dictated by the need for these ships to pass through the Panama Canal. The Congressional Budget Office found that LH(X) class ships would be more cost-effective if they were built with nuclear power—if the price of oil reached and stayed above $140 per barrel by 2040.[7]
A modified version of the design of the USS America, designated the MPF(F), LHA(R), or T-LHA(R), was proposed for two ships of the Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future).[8] The MPF(F) is the Navy's concept for a "sea base" to support operations ashore starting in about 2025.[9]
These two ships would hypothetically be manned by a civilian crew from the Military Sealift Command, and hence not armed with weapons.[8] Funding for the MPF(F) and the LHA(R) was tabled by the Senate Armed Services Committee in the fiscal year 2008 budget.[8] The U.S. Navy now intends to buy more ships of the America class for its fleet of amphibious warfare ships.[9]
The so-called "LHX" was a warship that was proposed in the late 1990s to replace the Tarawa-class ships, but with a dry deck for hovercraft rather than a floodable "well deck". After the year 2000, the LHX, the so-called "Amphibious Assault Ship Future Replacement", was put forward to replace all of the LHDs.[10]
The new LHX could be a Flight 2 design of the America-class built with a well deck and a smaller island superstructure, which would give it 20 percent more capacity on the flight deck.[10] This would remove the current restriction on MV-22s to land on spots 5 and 6, and also giving room for four MV-22B, three F-35B Lightning IIs, or three CH-53Ks to use the flight deck. In 2008, the procurement of Flight 2 ships was tentatively planned for 2024,[10] but that might not be practical or affordable by then.
History
The program started in July 2001,[3] with development beginning in October 2005,[3] the production decision was made in January 2006,[3] and construction of LHA-6 began in December 2008.[3] The keel-laying ceremony was on 17 July 2009[4] with delivery originally planned for August 2012.[3] As of 2009 delivery was planned for February 2013[3] and initial capability for February 2014,[3] but delivery has now been further delayed into FY2014.[5]
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.[11] 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 canceled.[12]
In April 2012 Contract N00024-10-C-2229 was issued to Huntington Ingalls Industries, in which funding for steel plate purchase for LHA-7 is planned, and announced requirement for additional four ships (to LHA-10). LHA-7 will be laid down in April 2013 and her commission is planned in 2018.[13]
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced May 4 the selection of USS Tripoli as the name for the Navy's next large-deck amphibious assault ship (LHA-7).[14]
See also
- Charles de Gaulle—French aircraft carrier, 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
References
- ^ a b c d e "LHA 6 (formerly LHA(R)) New Amphibious Assault Ship" (pdf). DOT&E. 2008. p. 149.
- ^ Freedberg, Sydney J. Jr. "Navy's Newest, LHA-6, A Dead End For Amphibious Ships?" 3 October 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h GAO-09-326SP 'Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs', U.S. Government Accountability Office, 30 March 2009
- ^ a b "Keel Laid for Latest Addition to Multimission-Capable Amphibious Fleet". United States Navy. 18 July 2009. 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".
- ^ a b c Jean, Grace V. (September 2008). "Marines Question the Utility of Their New Amphibious Warship". National Defense Magazine. National Defense Industrial Association.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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).
- ^ a b c "Systematic approach to an enduring requirement" (PowerPoint). US Marines Corps. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
- ^ "Contract". Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), U.S. Department of Defense. 28 October 2010.
- ^ Cavas, Christopher P. (8 January 2011). "Fleet will feel effects of major Corps cuts". Navy Times.
- ^ http://flotprom.ru/news/?ELEMENT_ID=109511
- ^ http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=15247