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Ships/Navy: Aircraft carriers

Sea Power, Jan 2003

The figures listed as the complement for each class of ship represent the average manpower requirements for those ships. However, actual manning may differ from the average requirement, depending on availability of personnel, specific mission requirements, etc.

AIRCRAFT CARRIERS (CVN, CV)

Aircraft Carriers

BRIEFING: American aircraft carriers have a long history of projecting American power when and where needed. Since their involvement in WWII, carrier task forces have been called upon more than 200 times to serve as the principal manifestation of U.S. strength in times of crises. During the last decade, the on-scene presence of carrier battle groups has demonstrated the aircraft carrier's preeminent role in supporting national security interests globally.

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In August 1990, when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and USS Independence (CV 62) were immediately ordered to the scene and were the first U.S. combat forces to arrive in the area. Ultimately, six other carriers, two of which replaced the first two to arrive, were deployed to the Middle East. Aircraft flying from their decks during Desert Storm accounted for 16 percent of the combat missions flown against Iraqi targets. In October 1994, the threat of another invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces caused USS George Washington (CVN 73) to be rushed to the scene; the overwhelming power represented by her presence, and that of shore-based ground and air forces, resulted in a quick withdrawal by the Iraqis. Also in 1994 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower transported more than 50 Army helicopters to strife-torn Haiti when U.S. forces invaded that country, while USS America (CV 66) became a floating base for operations of Special Forces Command units. Carriers began deploying regularly to the Adriatic Sea in 1992; there they strongly supported successful NATO efforts in 1995 to bring an end to the bloody civil war in Bosnia. In March 1996, when tensions increased between China and Taiwan, two carrier battle groups quickly were ordered to the scene. USS Independence steamed into the area from the Western Pacific, where she was conducting routine exercises, and USS Nimitz (CVN 68) was ordered to the area from the Persian Gulf. In early 1998, when Iraq refused to allow United Nations weapons inspectors access to special presidential sites suspected of being involved in the production of weapons of mass destruction, USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) sprinted from Virginia to the Persian Gulf (over 8,000 nautical miles) in 303 hours. Iraq was forced to honor the terms of its agreement with the United Nations. Once again, the carriers were called on to respond to the nation's needs, this time at home. On 11 September 2001 the nation deployed much of the aircraft carrier fleet to show a presence around the world and at home. USS Enterprise (CVN 65), heading for a port visit to South Africa at the end of deployment, ordered a full rudder turn to station in the North Arabian Sea in approximately 11 hours. USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) joined USS Enterprise from India and conducted sustained operations for over 110 days with only four days off for maintenance. Since that time, seven aircraft carriers have supported Operation Enduring Freedom as part of a joint and combined air campaign against the al Qaeda terrorist network and their Taliban accomplices. Aircraft operating from ships at sea have flown over 14,000 sorties dropping various types of ordnance on targets in Afghanistan with an approximate bombing accuracy rate of 75 percent. More than 9,000 of those sorties were strike sorties or close-air-support missions.

Much has changed since the design and construction of the first aircraft carrier, USS Ranger (CV 4), in 1934. The operation of jet aircraft from an aircraft carrier was first introduced on USS Forrestal (CV 59) in 1955; nuclear propulsion was first used on USS Enterprise (CVN 65) in 1961; approval for development of the next generation of carriers, CVNX, came in 2000. Both USS America and USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67), commissioned in 1965 and 1968 respectively, were designed to be powered by fossil fuel. However, commencing with USS Nimitz, commissioned in 1975, all U.S. aircraft carriers constructed and planned for construction are nuclear-powered due to the inherent warfighting advantages of nuclear propulsion. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) followed USS Nimitz. The fourth ship of the Nimitzclass, USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) was successfully completed and delivered one year early in 1986. This led to a modem day "first" of funding two carriers in the same budget, thereby permitting continued accelerated build schedules and deliveries. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and USS George Washington were commissioned in 1989 and 1992, respectively. In FY 1988, funding for two carriers in the same budget was once again approved. The first of these, USS John C. Stennis, joined the fleet in December 1995. The second, initially named USS United States, was renamed USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and commissioned in July 1998. Advanced funding for CVN 76 was included in the FY 1993 budget with the balance in FY 1995; that carrier-named Ronald Reagan in early 1995 in honor of the nation's 40th president, will join the fleet in May 2003. The tenth and final Nimitz-class carrier, USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), will serve as a transition ship to the next generation of aircraft carriers, and will replace USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) in 2008. As the transition carrier, CVN 77 encompasses life-cycle cost reduction and manpower reduction initiatives, as well as "flexible island design" initiatives during new construction necessary to support future phased-array radar technology after ship delivery.

Government Industry

Ships/Navy: Aircraft carriers

Sea Power, Jan 2003

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