The foundations of modern naval forces and the US aircraft carrier fleet were laid in the 70-80-ies of the last century
The construction of 10 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers of the Nimitz type took more than 40 years: the lead ship was laid down in 1968, and the last one, the George Bush, was handed over to the fleet in 2009. These ships have a total displacement of more than 100 thousand tons, the length of the flight deck is 333 meters. The size of the wing has remained standard since the days of Forrestal ( Midway did not spoil the furrows" ), but the presence of a nuclear EC provides the giants with an "infinite" range and duration of navigation, higher speed and overall energy needs.
Due to the large size and lack of fuel reserves "for yourself", ammunition arsenals and fuel reserves for airplanes and helicopters are significantly increasing. An improved version of the Nimitz should be nuclear aircraft carriers of the Gerald Ford type. In particular, they will be equipped with more advanced radars and control systems, electromagnetic catapults instead of steam ones. The lead ship of this type is currently undergoing tests, during which a large number of technical problems have been identified.
In the 80s, the construction of the Ticonderoga-type cruisers, based on the Sprewens-type destroyer, began. On the first five, only the Harpoon RCC were shock weapons, in addition, the Standard and Asrok missiles were launched from traditional beam PU. Currently, only one ship out of these five is in the sludge, waiting for disposal, the rest are recycled or sunk as targets. On the next 22 cruisers of this type, while maintaining the "Harpoons", two Mk41 UVs are installed. Thus, each ship became the carrier of 122 missiles (Tomahawk missile system, Standard missile system, Asrok missile system). In addition, they received the Aegis combat information and control system (BIUS), which provides a constant exchange of information with other ships and aircraft. It includes, in particular, four radar stations with headlights mounted on the superstructure of the ship and capable of escorting up to 300 targets. Further improvement of the Aegis made it possible to include ships equipped with this BIOS in the missile defense system. The use of the SM-3 "Standard" missiles with a firing range of up to 2.5 thousand and an altitude reach of 1.5 thousand kilometers (that is, in space) is provided. In addition, the UVP ammunition includes short-range missiles "Sea Sparrow" of the latest modification, and four such missiles can be placed in each cell.
The combination of the Mk41 UVP and the Aegis BIUS transferred the cruisers, and then the destroyers of the US Navy to a completely new quality. They ceased to be "guards of aircraft carriers", but turned into a powerful independent force, both striking (at the expense of the Tomahawk missile defense system) and defensive (at the expense of the Standard missile defense system). Moreover, in both qualities they can be even more effective than aircraft carriers, especially due to the lower price. The Asrok PLUR is currently not actually used anymore, since they are considered obsolete, the configurations of Tomahawks and Standards on each particular ship can be any. In 1991, one of the Ticonderoga-class cruisers carried 122 Tomahawks to strike Iraq.
"With the presence of a giant fleet, the United States has extremely limited opportunities to export naval equipment. Almost all modern American warships are too large in size, difficult to operate and extremely expensive.”
In 1988, construction began on the Orly Burke-class destroyers, also equipped with the Mk41 UVP and the Aegis system. Due to the slightly smaller size than the Ticonderoga, the forward UVP on destroyers is halved to 32 cells, including 29 missile cells. Thus, the first 28 destroyers of this type carried 90 missiles each. From the 29th ship, the loading mechanism was moved outside of the UVP, which made it possible to use all the cells for missiles. Accordingly, the new Orly Berks already carry 96 Tomahawk and Standard missiles. Currently, there are 68 ships of this type in service, their final number is not exactly known (it may range from 75 to 82 or even 100).
In addition to the Orly Berks and to replace the Ticonderoga, it was planned to build 32 Zumwalt-type destroyers with futuristic architecture using Stealth technology. They carry a slightly modified UVP Mk57, designed for a total of 80 missiles, as well as two brand new 155-mm guns, which were supposed to provide guided projectiles firing at a range of 150 kilometers (primarily at coastal targets). However, due to the abnormally high price of such shells (up to a million dollars per unit), the Navy command refused them, which made the guns practically meaningless. And because of the abnormally high price of the destroyer as a whole (up to $ 8 billion), the series was reduced to three ships.
It is still unclear what the prospective cruisers and/or destroyers of the US Navy will be – the decision has not yet been made, the construction and modernization of the Orly Berkov will continue.
In the 70s and 80s, 51 Oliver Perry frigates were built for the US Navy, in addition, six similar ships were built in Australia and Spain, as well as eight in Taiwan. With sufficiently large sizes, they had very weak armament – a single beam PU for "Harpoons" and "Standards", a 76-mm cannon and a 20-mm anti-aircraft machine gun, two three-tube TA for Mk46 and Mk50 torpedoes. Frigates were intended primarily to protect convoys when transporting American troops and cargo to Europe, but after the end of the Cold War, the need for them disappeared. The last frigates were withdrawn from the American fleet in 2017, 18 such ships were laid up. Another 20 were sold, and Bahrain became the most "exotic" buyer, the rest were disposed of or sunk as targets during the exercises.
The so–called coastal action ships (LCS - Littoral Combat Ship) were to become a conditional replacement for the Perry. The concept took shape in the era of maximum fascination with the fight against terrorism, so they were not in fact intended for a classic naval war. The task of the LCS included mine and anti-submarine warfare, ensuring the actions of the MTR, fighting pirates and kamikaze boats. It was supposed to build at least 52 LCS. Two competing projects were created – the Freedom ship classic in architecture and the Independence high-speed trimaran. Both variants had a very high price (at least 500 million per unit) with very weak armament (one 57 mm cannon, one German short-range RAM SAM, an SH-60 helicopter and up to 3 UAVs). However, since the fall of 2019, Norwegian NSM PCRs have been installed on the LCS. At the same time, the Pentagon and the Navy command failed to make a choice, so the construction of ships of both projects began. It is extremely difficult to say how many of them will be built, but, apparently, less than 52, and the first ships are already being put into reserve, having served only 15 years. After that, apparently, the United States will return to the construction of "normal" frigates, and according to foreign projects (most likely they will choose Italian).
In the 80s, eight Whidbey Island-type DTDs and four Harpers Ferry amphibious vehicles similar in design were built. Since 2000, the construction of the San Antonio type DVKD has been underway (11 ships out of 13 planned have already been commissioned). From 1985 to 2009, eight Wasp-type UDC were produced (one was lost in a fire in 2020), after which construction of the America-type UDC began. It is planned to build 11 of them, while two ships have been commissioned. They no longer carry landing boats on board, while fifth-generation F-35B VTOL aircraft are being added to the Harriers. In fact, the ships of the type "America" in size, armament and purpose are aircraft carriers, not UDC. On the previous DTD, DVKD and UDC, the main landing vehicle is an LCAC hovercraft. It has a maximum speed of up to 70 knots, a cruising range of up to 300 miles, and is capable of carrying up to 75 tons of cargo.
With the presence of a giant fleet, the United States has extremely limited opportunities to export its naval equipment. Almost all modern American warships are too large in size, difficult to operate and extremely expensive. It remains only to sell the remaining "Oliver Perry", if there are buyers for them, they may be followed by LCS. The United States sells patrol ships and boats from the Coast Guard, but they can only be considered combat only conditionally due to extremely weak weapons.
However, this circumstance does not prevent the American fleet from remaining the basis of the US Armed Forces for any foreseeable future.
Alexander Khramchikhin, independent military expert
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue No. 10 (923) for March 22, 2022
