In the past historical process, many aircraft carriers were transformed from other warships. For example, the United Kingdom built the aircraft carrier Fury based on the cruiser , and the United States even owned an aircraft carrier by transforming coal ships. With the end of World War II, the once powerful naval battleship was quickly eliminated by history. This of course included the US military's Iowa-class battleship, which officially entered a state of mothballing.
Although the weapons and equipment are outdated, the Iowa-class battleships have certain advantages in other aspects. For example, the design has super anti-attack performance, which can significantly withstand attacks from torpedoes and anti-ship missiles ; it has a large displacement of more than 50,000 tons, which can meet the carrying needs of enough equipment, etc.
As early as the 1980s, Britain and the United States worked together to launch the new AV-8B Harrier fighter jet. It is reported that this fighter can perform missions on large warships such as aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships , thereby forming a powerful combat capability. As the AV-8B Harrier fighter jet begins the mass production process, the U.S. military has launched a huge warship construction project, aiming to eventually have up to 600 warships. It is worth noting that the upgrade and improvement of the Iowa-class battleships has become an important part of the above-mentioned projects. To this end, the United States proposed to launch a new aircraft carrier based on this battleship and integrating the technical features of the AV-8B fighter jet.
From a technical point of view, the above design idea is feasible. This is directly related to the initial design of the Iowa-class battleship to carry seaplane and other considerations, and we can see it from the external characteristics of the battleship deck!
According to the plan, the rear turret and deck need to be dismantled to save more internal space. In addition, two shorter ski-jump runways will be built on the warship to meet the actual needs of AV-8B fighter jets taking off and landing, rather than to provide services for fixed-wing fighters. According to the overall configuration positioning, facilities such as ammunition depot are arranged on the lower part of the deck. After comprehensive modification, the new aircraft carrier can dock up to 20 AV-8B fighters used to perform ground attack and reconnaissance missions.
However, due to the influence of the war environment and other factors, the United States did not fully follow the above plan during the actual modification of the aircraft carrier. For example, the rear main gun was retained and the shipboard equipment such as drones was added. Moreover, modification itself also brings problems, such as too single fighter model, etc., which need to be faced.
