The super ship fit for a superpower

Ash

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Rising from a dry dock, this is America's latest and possibly costliest piece of military machinery ever constructed.
The world's only superpower has released details of its new generation of aircraft carriers - the first of which costs a staggering $13billion - which it hopes will enable it to dominate any battlefield for decades to come.
But that sort of money buys an incredible amount of firepower, with the ship stuffed with cutting-edge and top secret technology.
When finished, the giant 1,106-foot USS Gerald R. Ford will be able to launch 220 airstrikes per day from its two runways, hold 4,000 sailors and marines, and be virtually invisible to enemy radar.

The Navy also plans to buy another three such carriers, at a cost of $43 billion, to complete its fleet.
But the project to build the most advanced aircraft carrier every made has come at a high price, with costs overrunning to the tune of nearly $3billion and major delays.

Beci Brenton, spokesman for Huntington Ingalls Industries, the maker of the ship, told FoxNews.com: 'The structure has been rearranged to accommodate new technology and meet all of the Navy's operational requirements.

The ship's structure and exterior are now 100 per cent complete, Brenton said. But internal connections and features inside the ship are still being added.
The ship began construction in Newport News, Virginia, in 2007, but is unlikely to enter sea trials until 2016.
The carrier would be fully capable by February 2019, according to a critical watchdog report.
Delays ranging from between two and a half and four and a half years in testing three of the ship's most important new advances: its dual band radar, arresting gear and the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System that will catapult jets off the carrier have become serious issues


And the spiralling costs come at a time when the Navy is seaching for ways to plug a $14 billion cut in the upcoming fiscal year as a result of the automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration.
The state-of-the-art carrier has provoked strong criticism from some quarters, including the government's own watchdogs.
In a report earlier this month the Government Accountability Office wrote: 'Key ship systems face reliability shortfalls that the Navy does not expect to resolve until many years after [Ford] commissioning, which will limit the ship's mission effectiveness during initial deployments and likely increase costs to the government.'
It added: 'The Navy faces technical, design, and construction challenges to completing Gerald R. Ford that have led to significant cost increases.'
National security experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Brookings Institution, have also called into question the value of the aircraft in future conflicts.
'I'm not persuaded they're worth twice what the old carriers cost,' Michael O'Hanlon, of Brookings, told FoxNews.com.


The super ship fit for a superpower: America's $13billion aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford capable of launching 220 airstrikes a day rises from its dry docks | Mail Online
 

nirranj

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laid in 2007 and super structure ready in 2013.

This is what a established Industrial chain can produce at a normal phase. New port News has been building Aircraft carriers for USN since 1930's. And they are building Carriers one after the other which helps them to refine the process, establish a reliable Supplier base, refine the design, ensure the availability of experienced man power in carrier buillding, possibility to try, test and tune new technologies etc.

We should ensure the Kochi Ship yard is constructing Aircraft carriers continuosly. even If we dont have orders for our Navy, still we should find some ways to export the Carriers and thus sustaining the shipyards ability to produce Aircraft carriers.

The loss of submarine building capability with MDL should not be repeated again.
 

Ash

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When finished, the giant 1,106-foot USS Gerald R. Ford will be able to launch 220 airstrikes per day from its two runways, hold 4,000 sailors and marines, and be virtually invisible to enemy radar.

how does a 300m + ship become virtually invisible to radar......having a reasonable understanding of today's available tec, is this statement not a bit of exaggeration?
 

Abhijeet Dey

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$13 Billion US dollars :faint2: ..................... That's a hell lot of money.
 

anoop_mig25

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with such costly machines whom they are going to attack.there economy is in drolldrum but seriously they have no wories
 

asianobserve

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with such costly machines whom they are going to attack.there economy is in drolldrum but seriously they have no wories

They're important pieces of a chess game being played Worldwide. Those machines will hardly be used but their presence alone will satisfy the objectives envisioned by the planners in Washington and Pentagon. This is really a game of superpowers, no need commenting on it.

And on the economic side, India needs to worry more about its economy than Washington. The flow of foreign investments alone to America is a good indicator of the vibrancy of their economy.
 

afako

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They're important pieces of a chess game being played Worldwide. Those machines will hardly be used but their presence alone will satisfy the objectives envisioned by the planners in Washington and Pentagon. This is really a game of superpowers, no need commenting on it.

And on the economic side, India needs to worry more about its economy than Washington. The flow of foreign investments alone to America is a good indicator of the vibrancy of their economy.
Think like this,

How much time does Indian Navy spend for a war in a decade?

Not more than 10 days.

The Real worth of the aircraft carrier comes in Peacetime except those 10 days when it is used for Gunboat diplomacy, Show of Force to coerce a country to achieve strategic and political objectives, define your areas of interest, show a nations Industrial might.

David Hobbs on Aircraft Carriers - The Phoenix ThinkTank - Naval & Maritime Think Tank
 

sob

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with such costly machines whom they are going to attack.there economy is in drolldrum but seriously they have no wories
Imagine the jobs being created in the local economy. The money being injected is much more effective than the QE saga going on.

You have to look at the future. The US economy is very strong and projects such as this are small peanuts. As @sanjeevJino has noted this is equal to 100 Rafales.
 
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debasree

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They're important pieces of a chess game being played Worldwide. Those machines will hardly be used but their presence alone will satisfy the objectives envisioned by the planners in Washington and Pentagon. This is really a game of superpowers, no need commenting on it.

And on the economic side, India needs to worry more about its economy than Washington. The flow of foreign investments alone to America is a good indicator of the vibrancy of their economy.
u looks too much knw abt indian economy our economy is not export based ..dometic market based govt wrong policy hampers the growth..we will be back in track soon..& 13 billion if we can buy 100 rafales with near 13 billon we can also make such ac..but we donrt need such huge machine..we r not global police:taunt:
 

Abhijeet Dey

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u looks too much knw abt indian economy our economy is not export based ..dometic market based govt wrong policy hampers the growth..we will be back in track soon..& 13 billion if we can buy 100 rafales with near 13 billon we can also make such ac..but we donrt need such huge machine..we r not global police:taunt:
China has $ 3.5 Trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves. That is the reason why they have increased their defense budget to $ 105 billion dollars. India should also try to increase its foreign exchange reserves to trillion dollar level (if it is possible). Only then India may be able to think of big defense projects.
 

debasree

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yes yes & malyas r only one super power...in asia lolzzzz
 

debasree

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our bases cant put such monster we r building what we need....:) & we r have the most experinced naval aviators in asia regeon..:)
 
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Defcon 1

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with such costly machines whom they are going to attack.there economy is in drolldrum but seriously they have no wories
Actually Ford class carriers will have lower operating costs as lot of process on the ship will be automated. The staff requirements on the Ford class will fall by 30% over the previous generation.
 

Defcon 1

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China has $ 3.5 Trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves. That is the reason why they have increased their defense budget to $ 105 billion dollars. India should also try to increase its foreign exchange reserves to trillion dollar level (if it is possible). Only then India may be able to think of big defense projects.
Defence budget has got nothing to do with forex reserves. It has more to do with how much fiscal deficit can government afford to have in the current fiscal. Secondly we simply cannot reach trillion dollar forex reserves since our economy is basically import based economy, i.e. we run a high CAD. China has large forex reserves since it has high current account surplus and is actually the biggest exporter in the World.
 

SajeevJino

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I don't Know why Most peoples saying here we have no way to operate such huge Island Ship.

We will use Atleast a decade of AC where our Neighbours didn't..The Chinese Scared Japanese LHD they scared of our Vikranth AC.operating a Huge 1000 ft long carrier means slapping directly to China's Face


Economy will nothing change If we Buy a Huge Island from US if it comes with 80 SH some Prowler growler Hawkeye and Grayhound ..I offer US for 25 billion Dollers for this
 

jmj_overlord

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How does US manage to cover the costs as per the present economic condition ?
 

Vishwajeet

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What if we can buy that super carrier. But the real problem what i see is, do we have a capability to escort that kind of huge island.

i mean after getting that AC we will need a precise defence network of escorts. which can protect it from every attack.

Since china's AC killer DF-21D (ASBM, 3000km with speed of mach 10 ) has been stated deadlier by many defence experts. so first of all we will need a defence network capable enough to tackle it. and US navy has such potential to counter such advance attack. But IN still lacks such precise network (correct me if i am wrong).

so before getting such AC first we will have to get advance defence system of escorts which can be probably put some pressure to our economy.
 

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