It seems that the United States is "ripe” to expand the fleet of aircraft carriers. Yesterday, March 22, the portal scramble.nl He announced that exercises are planned for the next month using the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) in the format of a light aircraft carrier.
U.S. Marine Corps F-35B fighters from three squadrons will gather aboard the USS Tripoli (LHA-7) to fully test the Lightning Carrier concept. The idea to turn landing craft with a large deck into light aircraft carriers equipped with F-35B first arose five years ago, but the roots of this concept are connected with the operation of AV-8 Harrier vertical takeoff and landing combat aircraft dating back decades.
F-35B fighters on the USS America
Image source: thedrive.com
Back in 2019, the US Navy and the USMC tested the Lightning Carrier concept, which consists in equipping a landing ship with F-35B aircraft. The resulting aircraft carriers will provide significant potential for increasing the firepower of the fleet. Amphibious ships can be included in carrier task forces to strengthen the air force or can be deployed in separate amphibious readiness groups to disperse forces to increase survivability and lethality.
The relatively new USS America and the ship of the same type USS Tripoli do not have a flooded deck, like other amphibious ships of the American fleet. Instead, they have expanded internal hangars to accommodate additional aircraft, fuel and weapons for them.
Layout of fighters when using amphibious ships as light aircraft carriers
Image source: thedrive.com
Tripoli was laid down in June 2014 and is the second ship of the Amegisa type (the lead ship USS Amegisa LHA 6 was put into service in October 2014). A total of 12 such ships are planned to be adopted by the US Navy. By their displacement (45,700 tons), amphibious assault ships of the Amegisa type are comparable to light aircraft carriers. In addition, these ships are equipped with a long flight deck (257 m) and can carry fighters with a short takeoff and vertical landing (F-35B). The command of the US Marine Corps suggests that the Ministry of Defense officially reclassify these ships into light aircraft carriers, but so far they are officially considered universal landing ships.
The Tripoli is more than 257 m long and has a displacement of 45,700 tons. The crew of the ship has more than 1,000 people, about 2,000 more paratroopers can be accommodated in its internal compartments. The basic aircraft wing of the ship consists of 12 MV-22 tiltrotor planes, 6 F-35B fighters, 4 AH-1Z helicopters, 4 ΜΗ-53 helicopters, as well as 3 UΗ-1 helicopters. When using the USS Tripoli as a light aircraft carrier, its air wing will consist of 22 F-35B fighters.
