The basic tasks of modern naval warfare include four aspects: air defense, anti-submarine, anti-ship, and ground attack. The core of this is ground attack, and the most important defense issues are air defense and anti-submarine.
aircraft carrier battle group (English: Aircraft Carrier Battle Group), referred to as aircraft carrier battle group, originally appeared during World War II and was mainly used in the Pacific War between the United States and Japan, the most famous of which was the Midway Naval Battle.
(Midway Naval Battle Force:
Aircraft Carrier: 4 Japanese troops, 3 US troops;
Aircraft Ships of all kinds: 7 Japanese ships, 25 US troops;
Aircraft Aircraft: 264 Japanese aircraft, 230 US 5 carrier-based aircraft +172 land-based aircraft)
According to historical records, from the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941 to 1945, the United States built a total of 147 aircraft carriers. During this period, the specific number of aircraft carriers built and launched by the United States is as follows: 22
"Essex-class" fleet aircraft carriers; 2
"Midway-class" fleet aircraft carriers; 1
"Midway-class" fleet aircraft carriers; 1 escort aircraft carrier of
"Cammentetan-class" escort aircraft carrier; 1 escort aircraft carrier of
"Casablanca-class" escort aircraft carrier; 50 escort aircraft carriers.
The surface fleet of the modern US Navy is basically formed and configured around aircraft carriers. Because aircraft carrier battle groups have become an important pillar of the US military strategy, they are effective forces to show national strength, support foreign policy, guarantee national interests, and stop crises and conflicts.
The US Navy's aircraft carrier combat group has strong combat capabilities. The US Navy's aircraft carrier is equipped with the ability to win two local wars under the background of high technology at the same time. The United States currently has 11 aircraft carriers, including 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and 1 Ford-class aircraft carrier.
The US Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carrier can carry 75 carrier-based aircraft, which is the main combat force of US aircraft carriers.
Each U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier has a carrier-based aircraft wing, which is under its jurisdiction, and has 4 attack fighter squadrons, including 44 F/A-18E/F” Super Hornet ” fighter jets, 1 carrier-based early warning aircraft squadron, 5 E-2D “Hawkeye” early warning aircraft; 1 electronic warfare attack squadron, 5 EF-18G “Growler” electronic warfare attack aircraft; 2 anti-submarine/rescue helicopter squadrons, 11 SH-60F “Seahawk” anti-submarine helicopters and MH-60H “Black Hawk” rescue helicopters.
Super Bumblebee
According to the current take-off level of carrier-based aircraft of the US Navy aircraft carrier, it can meet the frequency of 150 aircraft per day.
According to the US Navy's assessment, the number of targets hit per day for an Nimitz-class aircraft carrier equipped with 75 carrier-based aircraft was 248 during the three-day combat period. The USS Ford aircraft carrier, which is equipped with the same number of carrier-based aircraft, will hit more than 2,000 targets. Considering the use of other weapons, its comprehensive combat effectiveness is 3 times higher than that of Nimitz level.
(Ford is a super warship built by the US military's highest military black technology. It combines highly informatization/automation, electromagnetic catapult/hinder, electromagnetic railgun, active phased array radar, all-electric propulsion, nuclear fuel and other top technologies. It has the strongest combat capability in the world and is a real super warship.)
Take the current "Lincoln" aircraft carrier as an example (the "Lincoln" aircraft carrier once appeared in Transformers, which is the most modern and advanced Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in the United States)
Currently, a US aircraft carrier has a service life of 50 years, and will undergo a comprehensive material replacement repair when it is in service for 25 years. The comprehensive overhaul of material replacement is not an ordinary overhaul - it is almost equivalent to rebuilding an aircraft carrier once.
According to the U.S. Navy, the Lincoln comprehensive overhaul completed more than 2.5 million man-hours in total, including replacing its two nuclear reactors, upgrading infrastructure, transforming combat systems and upgrading air wing capabilities.
After more than four years of overhaul, the Lincoln has become the first aircraft carrier in the US Navy fleet that can carry the Lockheed-Martin F-35C joint strike fighter.
Currently, the Lincoln aircraft carrier is equipped with three GMLS MK29 Eight-connected " Sea Sparrow " air defense missile launch system from Leisheng Company. Its maximum speed can reach 30 knots and can accommodate more than 6,000 people.
" Sea Sparrow" air defense missile launch system launches
, equipped with F-35C can easily take off at a maximum take-off weight of more than 30 tons, and can guarantee a combat radius of 1,200 kilometers, far exceeding the current US main carrier-based fighter F-18, with strong maritime strike capabilities. Generally, 2 JASSM or LRASM can be carried in the bomb bay. If necessary, 4 external pylons can be added, increasing the carrying capacity to 6.
aircraft carrier battle group
aircraft carrier battle group each has different, but the current US aircraft carrier battle group is basically composed of the following ships:
aircraft carrier
●One to three aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers are equipped with 1-3 ships according to the needs of the US government, meeting different tasks ranging from purely showing force to attacking various targets. Aircraft carriers can also provide long-term support from other troops. But aircraft carriers are not the flagship of the fleet. In the US Navy aircraft carrier battle group, the flagship is Ticonderoga-class cruiser .
Ticonderoga class cruiser
cruiser
●One or two missile cruisers. Currently, it is a Ticonderoga-class cruiser equipped with the Aegis system. As the escort center of the aircraft carrier battle group, cruisers provide various combat capabilities such as air defense, anti-ship and anti-submarine. They are also the flagship of the entire aircraft carrier battle group.
Tomahawk cruise missile launches
There is also Tomahawk cruise missile on the ship, which has the ability to strike ground targets at long-range.
Ali Burke-class missile destroyer
●Two or three missile destroyers. It is currently in service as an Aybk-class missile destroyer, which also uses the Aegis system. These destroyers assist cruisers in the fleet to expand the range of defense circles and are also used for air defense, anti-submarine and anti-ship combat.
Perry-class missile frigate
frigate
●A frigate. It is currently in service as a Perry-class missile frigate. All frigates of this class have now been retired. Currently replaced by independent class littoral combat ship . The Independent Class Littoral Combat Ship is actually not a new type of ship, but a new class of frigates, which put forward higher requirements in terms of mission modules and execution capabilities.
Independent Class Littoral Combat Ship
Here we will talk about the US Independent Class Littoral Combat Ship.
According to the design requirements of the US military, littoral combat ships are mainly used for global coastal waters. They must have ocean navigation capabilities and can reach any offshore area around the world that is hundreds of nautical miles away from the coast. Therefore, their displacement should be larger, at least about 800-3,000 tons; they can quickly and maneuverably provide highly accurate and powerful fire strikes; the hull will adopt a modular structure, which can be built by different modules according to the needs of the task to achieve "plug and play". In short, it is a surface ship with fast, maneuverable, shallow draft, small tonnage and unique performance.
In July 2002, the United States announced the task requirements for the littoral combat ship, whose tasks include:
① Anti-surface warfare, especially against small enemy ships;
② Mine Counter Measures;
③ Anti-Submarine Warfare;
④ Intelligence collection/surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR);
⑤ Homeland Defense/Maritime Intercept (Homeland Defense/Maritime) Intercept);
⑥Special Operation Forces support;
⑦Support for movement of personnel and supplies.
Independent Class Littoral Combat Ship was designed by General Dynamics in 2003. The first ship started construction at the Aosta Shipyard in the United States on January 19, 2006. It was launched on April 26, 2008 and entered service on January 16, 2010. By 2018, there were 13 ships built, of which 7 have been put into service.
independent class littoral combat ship can carry unmanned aircraft, unmanned water surface and water download tools. It has the characteristics of shallow draft and high speed. It can flexibly adjust the combat module according to different combat tasks to achieve "plug and play".
Littoral combat concept is a warship carrying one of three mission packages to perform combat missions. These three mission packages are surface war mission packages, anti-submarine war mission packages and anti-mine war mission packages, which are called the "configurable mission module" of the combat system.
Independent Class Littoral Combat Ship is an aluminum alloy composite high-performance three-body ship, 127.6 meters long and has a displacement of 2784 tons. It is composed of a thin central hull and two narrow and long side bodies of about 1/2 of the length of the main hull.
Independent Class Littoral Combat Ship is equipped with an United Defense Company manufactured MK110 57mm stealth naval gun system, equipped with the "Dona" naval gun fire control system produced by the Spanish Isar Shipyard. The bottom can be equipped with an unobservable missile launch device, launching a precise attack missile with a range of 22 nautical miles.
is equipped with 2 30mm naval guns and a set of RIM-116 Ram anti-ship missile defense system above the helicopter hangar, which can launch NATO's improved Sea Sparrow air defense missile and Aslok anti-submarine missile.
Seahawk helicopter
Independent class littoral combat ships can carry 2 MH-60R/S Seahawk helicopters or 1 Seahawk helicopter, 3 MQ-8B "Firepower Scout" drones, or individually carry 1 CH-53 "Sea Stud" helicopter, or 2 Black Hawk helicopters, Kingfisher II armed drones, unmanned surface/underwater vehicle.
Marine Stallion Helicopter
In addition, the invisible performance of the sound, light, electricity and other physical characteristics of independent class littoral combat ships is also better than that of ordinary ships.
Los Angeles-class submarine
Submarine
●One or two attack submarines. It is currently in service as a Los Angeles-class submarine. Used to support fleet alert and combat against surface or underwater targets. It can also use the submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missile it carries to strike on land targets.
Sacramento-class supply ship
supply ship
●One to three supply ships. The Sacramento-class supply ship is the largest comprehensive supply ship in the world today. Due to space limitations, this part will not be unfolded one by one, because in fact, the US Navy does not have "active" supply ships at all.
Around 2005, the U.S. Navy assigned all auxiliary ships, including various non-combat ships, to the jurisdiction of the Military Sealift Command, which theoretically retired from the U.S. Navy.
