US Navy’s aircraft carrier to take part in military drills with South Korea

SEOUL (BNS): US Navy's Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan will take part in the ongoing annual military drill in South Korea.

The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group arrived in the US 7th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR) Wednesday. The AOR spans 48 million square miles, from the International Date Line to the Western Indian Ocean.

The carrier strike group (CSG) is comprised of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7, which includes USS Preble (DDG 88).

While in the 7th Fleet, the group will conduct exercises and port visits to enhance maritime partnerships and promote peace and stability in the region, the Navy said.

It will participate in the Foal Eagle military exercise with South Korea.

The annual field training exercise which began on February 28 “highlights the longstanding military partnership and enduring friendship between the United States and Republic of Korea,” the US Navy statement said.

Construction Begins on Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier

Advance construction started on the nation's newest aircraft carrier Feb. 25 with a "first cut of steel" ceremony at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News, Va.

The steel plate cut will be used in the construction of the carrier, which has yet to be named, but will be designated CVN 79.

The carrier represents the second in a new class of ships designed to replace Enterprise and Nimitz-class carriers and save more than $5 billion in total ownership costs during its planned 50-year service life when compared to Nimitz-class carriers.

"Today we mark the beginning of the advance construction of CVN 79, second of the Gerald R. Ford-class of aircraft carriers," said Rear Adm. Michael McMahon, Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Aircraft Carriers. "It's an important step in continuing carrier construction using advanced technologies and efficiencies to reduce both ownership and procurement cost in this new class of carriers."

Ford-class aircraft carriers, while retaining the same hull form as the Nimitz class, contain several advanced technology systems including Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching Systems, advanced arresting gear, dual band radar, a redesigned smaller island and a new propulsion plant. The first ship in the class, Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), is also under construction at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding-Newport News and is scheduled to be delivered to the fleet in September 2015.

The PEO for Aircraft Carriers, an affiliated PEO of Naval Sea Systems Command, focuses on the design, construction, system integration, delivery and life-cycle support of all aircraft carriers.

Bat-winged drone bomber in test flight: US Navy

A robotic, bat-winged bomber designed to take off from a US aircraft carrier has passed its first test in a debut flight in California, the US Navy said.

The X-47B jet, which looks like a smaller version of the B-2 stealth bomber, stayed in the air for 29 minutes and climbed to 5,000 feet in a test flight on Friday at Edwards Air Force Base, according to the Navy and defense contractor Northrop Grumman.

Military leaders see the plane as part of a new generation of drones that would be able to evade radar and fly at much faster speeds than the current fleet of propeller-driven Predators and Reapers used in the war in Afghanistan.

"Today we got a glimpse towards the future as the Navy?s first-ever tailless, jet-powered unmanned aircraft took to the skies," Captain Jaime Engdahl, a program manager for the warplane, said in a statement. Northrop is building the navy bomber under a $636 million contract awarded in 2007.

With no pilot on board, the experimental aircraft was operated by a joint Navy and Northrop team on the ground.

The plane "flew a racetrack pattern over the dry lakebed with standard-rate turns," the Navy said.

It will be years before the X-47B joins the naval air fleet, with the first tests on a carrier scheduled for 2013, Northrop said in a release.

E-2D the Navy's newest airborne and control aircraft, made its first launch

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the Navy's newest airborne early warning and control aircraft, made its first launch Feb. 1, from USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).

Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 20 representatives and aircrew from Patuxent River, Md., are aboard Truman to conduct suitability testing on the new aircraft.

"Truman is here to provide the squadron with the platform they need to perform the testing," said Lt. Cmdr. Rodney Moss, USS Harry S. Truman aircraft handler. "We will be supporting their test equipment on board, as well as aiding them in launch and recovery efforts."

"The idea of the E2-D started in the late 90's as kind of just a concept," said Cmdr. Mike Santomauro, flight test director. "The aircraft they are landing today began its initial testing back in 2007. The fact that we are even coming out to this ship is the culmination of more than a year-and-a-half of effort to get to here."

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye will not provide a significant change in the mission of early warning and control; however, it will enable the aircraft to perform its mission with greater improvements.

"It is a two-generation leap in surveillance capabilities, and it's going to be a game changer in information dominance for the U.S. Navy," Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead said during a speech in 2010.

The new aircraft will be able to scan a larger area, detect smaller objects and process information quickly than its predecessor. The aircrews will be able to accomplish these tasks through improved all-glass cockpits and tactical operator stations.

"There are a lot of things that have changed," said Santomauro. "The old E-2C had a lot of steam gauges, but the cockpit of the new E2-D is composed entirely of glass with flat screen control panels."

The aircraft will go through a rigorous six-day testing period during which the squadron will determine whether the E2-D is effective in a operational shipboard environment.

"We will make our determinations based on any discrepancies with the airframe or whether we see any gaps in the anticipated capability," said Santomauro. "We have about 200 test points we are trying to accomplish."

Truman provided the pilots of VX-20 the chance to make the E-2D's much-anticipated first recovery and launch from an aircraft carrier.

"So far, the testing is going very well," said Santomauro. "Through developmental tests we are moving toward making determinations of whether the aircraft is suitable for use."

"There is not going to be anything new for the guys working on the flight deck," said Moss. "It is more about the data the pilots are collecting while they are up there."

This new aircraft serves as the U.S. Navy's continual effort to maintain excellence and gain the competitive advantage over all challengers.

"We are fulfilling the CNO's vision for how he wants to fight wars in the future," said Santomauro. "I think we are going to link a lot of pieces together to make a more effective fighting force."

Aircraft Carriers Face Growing Threats

On the American ballistic submarine USS Maine in waters off the Florida coast not too long ago, two submariners eyed a U.S. aircraft carrier through their periscope in the roiling sea. “I think it’s the Washington,” one submariner said. “It doesn’t matter — it doesn’t know we’re here,” the other replied, eyeing the carrier through the scope. “Bang,” he said. “You’re dead.”

In the submarine world, carriers, like other surface ships, represent targets. But lately U.S. aircraft carriers have appeared to be growing more vulnerable to threats deployed from under the sea and in the air.

And those threats have to be taken even more seriously, given recent U.S. government reports about the advancements made in some of those weapons and questioning the carrier fleet’s ability to protect itself.

For example, a report released this month by the Pentagon Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) calls into question development of the self-defense systems for carriers and other surface ships. If a missile or torpedo were to break through a carrier group’s other defenses, the carrier itself could be quite vulnerable (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 25).

So, what are the chances of getting such a shot on a carrier? One of the biggest threats for carriers — and most other surface ships — is a submarine, and the old maxim says the best way to best a sub is with another sub. But the DOT&E report raises questions about the newest U.S. Virginia-class attack subs when they operate in the same waters as diesel-electric Kilo-class subs, one of the quietest and most popular submarines in the world.

One country that favors Kilos is China. “I have moved from being curious to being genuinely concerned,” Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, said last June about China’s growing military might.

During previous moments of potential conflicts with China, U.S. leaders were quick to send a carrier group to the Taiwan Straits. They might think twice about doing so now.

Not only might there be a Kilo lurking about, but as the Congressional Research Service (CRS) notes in a December report, the Chinese apparently are close to developing anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), “theater-range ballistic missiles equipped with maneuverable re-entry vehicles (MaRVs) capable of hitting moving ships at sea.”

Observers have expressed strong concern, CRS says, “because such missiles, in combination with broad-area maritime surveillance and targeting systems, would permit China to attack aircraft carriers, other U.S. Navy ships, or ships of allied or partner navies operating in the Western Pacific.”

To put this in perspective, the CRS report says, “The U.S. Navy has not previously faced a threat from highly accurate ballistic missiles capable of hitting moving ships at sea. Due to their ability to change course, the MaRVs on an ASBM would be more difficult to intercept than non-maneuvering ballistic missile re-entry vehicles.”

All of this gives carrier commanders a much bigger “bang” to worry about.

Ukraine reportedly helping China build aircraft carrier

Hong Kong, Jan. 25 (CNA) Ukraine has been providing China with the technics to build an aircraft carrier, according to the latest issue of the Canada-based Kanwa Asian Defense magazine.

In addition, Ukraine experts are also involved in the restoration of Varyag, an derelict carrier that China bought from Ukraine in 1999, Kanwa said.

"The restoration of Varyag has been completed, and the vessel has been equipped with Ukraine developed power systems, " the monthly said.

China bought the Kuznetsov-class Varyag, minus any power, radar or battle systems, and towed it via the Black Sea to the northern port of Dalian under the pretext of transforming it into a tourism attraction.

But many military observers believed that China is turning Varyag into a training ground for its pilots on the soon-to-be established fighter fleets on the carrier.

Andri Pinkov, founder and editor-of-chief of the monthly, said that Ukraine also helped China's Harbin boiler plant manufacture military boilers and steam machines as part of efforts to adopt the "catapult assisted take off and arrested recovery system" that is used by Russian carrier aircraft.