Aircraft Carrier News Updates -- December 27, 2009

The Navy will have to make significant infrastructure improvements to allow carriers to dock in Guam. The carrier Ronald Reagan is shown here pulling into Agana Harbor off the coast of Guam in 2008. MC2 Jennifer S. Kimball / Navy

Carrier Alternative Weekly -- New Wars

The Carrier Deception

What if there was a way to build up carrier numbers today, without drastically increasing the shipbuilding budget or retiring vast sums of other essential navy ships prematurely? I don’t mean just deploying the 15 of the Cold War, but dozens, scores, all you need and more. What if I tell you we have these vessels already in service? First some history.

Read more ....

More News On Aircraft Carriers

Northrop Grumman Completes 3D Product Model For Aircraft Carrier -- Design news
Northrop Grumman Offers Proven Open-Architecture Solutions to Meet the Navy's Cost and Performance Goals -- Defense Professionals
Chinese 3D aircraft carrier lands prize -- People's Daily
New carrier berth part of Guam expansion -- Navy Times
US Sen. Concerned About Carrier To Mayport -- News4Jax
Exclusive: 4600 Scots shipyard jobs secure as £4bn Royal Navy aircraft carriers escape defence cuts -- Daily Record
Indian Navy plans to acquire multi-role fighter aircraft -- The Hindi
India, Russia settle aircraft carrier deal -- UPI
India to pay Russia $2.3 bn for work to refit aircraft carrier -- News.Az
The Gorshkov Is Going, Going, Gone For $2.3 Billion -- Strategy Page

Aircraft Carrier News Updates -- October 30, 2009

(Joshua Scott/ US Navy)

Carrier Diversity Thursday -- New Wars

The Rationale for UCAV Carriers

James Dunnigan at Strategypage makes the case for a new warship geared toward a new way of war at sea:

While the navy would prefer to design and build the first generation UCAVs for use on existing carriers, these smaller and cheaper aircraft go together well with smaller and cheaper carriers. This means the Ford class may be the last of the big carriers. That’s because UCAVs mean you can get more aircraft on a carrier, and that creates a traffic jam type situation. Moreover, the widespread use of smart bombs means you need fewer bombers over the target. A 50-60,000 ton carrier, with three dozen F-35Bs, UCAVs, UAVs and support aircraft, can be as effective as a Nimitz with 70 F-18s and support aircraft. Thus the Ford class may not completely replace the Nimitz class on a one-for-one basis. The sharply rising cost of building American warships may force the adoption of a smaller, cheaper, carrier class.

Read more ....

More News On Aircraft Carriers

Russian Admirals Told To Forget About Carriers -- Strategy Page
Navy awards deal for SSDS improvements -- UPI
Keeping the aircraft carrier fleet afloat -- Boston.com
USS Ronald Reagan Gets Makeover Before Returning to Duty -- Defense Industry Daily
Royal Navy could be forced to build aircraft carrier which doesn't carry planes -- Daily Mail
Navy sacrifices fast-jet aircraft carrier amid £1bn budget overrun -- The Guardian
Latest Defence Fiasco: I See No Ships -- The Spectator
London Cuts Prince of Wales Into Two Halves and Throws F-35 Fighters Out -- Pravda

WNU Editor: New Wars always has a splendid breakdown on Aircraft Carrier news each Thursday. It got me thinking, why not do the same thing but expand it beyond just Carrier news. For example, Mondays are for F-35 news, Tuesdays are for news on submarines, Wednesdays is for news on missile defense, etc....

Yup, consider it done.