America class (2012)
| America class | |
|---|---|
_underway_on_3_September_2014.jpg) USS America in September 2014 |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Amphibious assault ship |
| Namesake | USS America aircraft carrier (CV-66) |
| period of service |
since 2014 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
Use: 44,971 ts |
| length |
257.3 meters |
| width |
32.3 meters |
| crew |
65 officers, 1,059 men, up to 1,871 Marines |
| drive |
2 gas turbines on 2 propellers, 70,000 bhp |
| speed |
20 kn |
| Armament |
|
The America-class is a class of amphibious assault ships in the United States Navy . The class was planned under the LHA-6 procurement program, and in June 2008 Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced the name of the first unit, USS America (LHA-6). The ships replace the Tarawa- class units .
history
America- class ships were planned from 2001. Another Service Life Extension of the Tarawas , which further extended their service life by up to 35 years, did not seem opportune, as the United States Marine Corps and the Navy procure new aircraft that can only be used with difficulty from the Tarawas . Therefore, the Navy investigated the possibilities of either building a modification of the Wasp- class or developing a completely new design. Ultimately, the decision was made to manufacture the America- class as a modified version of the last Wasp , the USS Makin Island (LHD-8) .
2005 awarded Northrop Grumman shipyard Ingalls Shipbuilding a contract for preliminary planning and material procurement worth $ 110 million, of all the options to increase in perception on 265 million dollars. In 2008 the America was to be laid down, but considerable delays in the construction of the Makin Island were not without consequences for the new class. LHA-6 was only launched on July 17, 2009. The planned commissioning for 2012 was delayed, so that the America was only handed over to the US Navy on April 10, 2014. The commissioning took place on October 11, 2014 in San Francisco .
technology
The ships are 257 meters long and 32 meters wide, the displacement is around 44,971 ts . In contrast to its predecessors, the class was originally no longer supposed to have a well deck for transporting landing craft , but instead was designed entirely for air transport. The focus should be on the rotary rotor aircraft Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey and the combat aircraft from the Joint Strike Fighter program ( Lockheed Martin F-35 B Lightning II ). Because of this, the class has been seen on various occasions as a resuscitation of the escort aircraft carrier . A typical composition of aircraft and helicopters for the America are (likely): twelve V-22 Ospreys , eight AH-1Z Viper / AH-1W Super Cobra , ten F-35Bs, four Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallions and four MH-60S Naval Hawk .
In March 2011 it was announced that the class would now have an aft well deck for the reception of landing craft. The space to support flight operations was reduced as a result, although this was reduced by further design changes, such as in the area of the island. For the first two units, which form the first construction lot ( Flight 0 ), this about-face came too late, however, they were built without a corrugated deck. This will only be received by the three ships initially planned for the follow-up lot ( Flight 1 ).
units
| Surname | Shipyard | Keel laying | Launch | Commissioning | Note (home port) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight 0 | |||||
| USS America (LHA-6) | Ingalls Shipbuilding , Pascagoula | July 17, 2009 | 4th June 2012 | October 11, 2014 | Active, San Diego |
| USS Tripoli (LHA-7) | 20th June 2014 | 1st May 2017 | 2020 (planned) [obsolete] | Sea trials | |
| Flight 1 | |||||
| USS Bougainville (LHA-8) | Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula | March 14, 2019 | planned budget year 2024 | under construction | |
| (LHA-9) | planned | ||||
| (LHA-10) | planned | ||||
Web links
- America class on GlobalSecurity.org
- America class on JeffHead.com
- America class on GlobalDefence.net
Footnotes
- ↑ defenseindustrydaily.com: $ 109.9M for Advance Work On New LHA-R Ship Class ( Memento January 14, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Amphibious Assault Ship USS America (LHA 6) Commissioned into US Navy. Navy Recognition, October 12, 2014, accessed October 19, 2014 .
- ^ Authenticates Keel of America-class Amphibious Warship Bougainville (LHA 8). Huntington Ingalls Industries , March 13, 2019, accessed November 8, 2019 .