This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected. Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies. Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue. The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.
By Norman Polmar, Author, The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet
Foreign Aircraft Carrier Redux
Jn (he 1980s several navies made great Th CS 'n a'rcraft carrier development. at trend could continue in the 1990s. 'x countries in addition to the United a'cs and Soviet Union now have airCraft carriers and two other navies want to ^r<^Ure aviation ships.
Most of those ships lly only vertical/ Short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) air- Lraft and helicopters. Still, they can con- S|tlcrably enhance the effectiveness of naval forces. Advancements in tilt-rotor eehnology such as the U.S. V-22 Os- P^ey, and possible future development of 'gh-performance short takeoff/vertical lar>ding (STO/VL) aircraft could further enhance naval capabilities beyond the range of shore-based aircraft.1
Argentina: The Argentine Navy con- jnties to operate a conventional carrier, he Veinticinco de Mayo, originally a r>tish light carrier.2 She participated in he 1982 Falklands conflict, but quickly returned to port after a British submarine sank the cruiser Belgrano. The carrier Was upgraded in 1982-1983, including Provisions to operate the French Super htendard fighter-attack aircraft. However> the French aircraft proved incompatible with the carrier and she continues to operate A-4Q Skyhawk attack aircraft Plus S-2E Tracker antisubmarine warfare (ASW) aircraft and helicopters—a total about 15 aircraft.
The defense ministry plans to build a ^placement for the Veinticinco de Mayo ln the 1990s—if the Brazilian financial S|tuation can afford such a project.
Australia: The Australian light carrier Melbourne (ex-HMS Majestic) was stricken in 1983 in anticipation of a new carricr to operate helicopters and, eventually, V/STOL aircraft. The ship was opiating A-4G Skyhawks, S-2G Trackers, and Sea King Mk 50 helicopters when she was retired. Plans to build an two htna • (LPH-2)-class helicopter carrier variant in the United States were aborted and then the Australian Navy gained approval to procure the first British Invincible-class V/STOL carrier. The British canceled that deal during the Falklands 'var, instead offering Australia the older Hermes, but in March 1983 the newly elected Australian Labor government decided against procuring any carrier.-’
Thus, today the Navy flies only helicopters (plus land-based training aircraft; while senior naval officers and certain defense officials desire a true V/STOL carrier, the current Australian naval acquisition program for submarines, frigates, and helicopters makes a carrier unlikely). However, the Indian naval buildup, potential instability in Indonesia and southwest Pacific areas, and the wider regional considerations by the Australian Army and Navy have resurrected interest in aviation ships.
The Australian government is currently considering the feasibility of acquiring one or even two amphibious ships similar in concept (if not design) to the Italian San Giorgio class. These 7,665-ton ships resemble a mini-LHA/LHD with a docking well and clear flight deck. The Italian ships have a large vehicle hangar that is only used to stow vehicles in addition to the six CH-47 Chinook or SH-3D Sea King helicopters normally being carried on the flight deck. An Australian ship of this type could be larger and have a helicopter hangar for major maintenance on Army and Navy helicopters. Although Harrier or other V/STOL aircraft are not now contemplated for such ships, that would certainly remain an option—albeit limited because of the ships’ small size.
Brazil: The Brazilian Minas Gerais, also a former British light carricr, is currently laid up. There are S-2E Tracker antisubmarine aircraft and helicopters available to fly from the ship. Plans to procure A-4 Skyhawks, and to replace the Minas Gerais with a newer ship have been canceled—tight budget.
China: There are periodic press reports on Chinese interest in a V/STOL carrier as well as plans to procure Harrier V/STOL aircraft. Neither seems probable because of budgetary conditions and the low priority of naval programs within the defense establishment.
France: Other than the United States and Soviet Union, the French Navy is the only nation constructing conventional takeoff and landing aircraft carriers. The 36,000-ton, nuclear-propelled Charles de
Gaulle is under construction and expected to enter service in 1998. A second ship of this design is planned, to be completed in the year 2002.
These new ships will replace the 32,700-ton Foch and Cletnenceau, completed in the early 1960s. Those ships now fly the venerable U.S. F-8E Crusader fighter and Super Etendard strike- fighter aircraft, plus helicopters. The French Navy had been interested in the U.S. F/A-18 Hornet strike-fighter, but that proposal has been rejected by the French government and the Crusaders will fly from French carriers until the end of the decade.
A new naval strike-fighter is in development, the Rafale M, a navalized version of the Rafale advanced combat aircraft. The naval variant is scheduled to enter service in 1998 on the new carriers. The Rafale began flight tests in July 1986; the French Air Force plans to acquire 250 planes plus 86 for the Navy. International partners have been sought to provide a larger and more economical production base, but so far no agreements have been revealed.
(The Clemenceau was part of the French naval force operating in the Indian Ocean during the recent Gulf War; in the early 1980s, this aircraft carrier launched air strikes against Moslem Shiite radicals in Lebanon.)
Great Britain: The Royal Navy today has three Invincible-class V/STOL carriers in service. These are relatively new ships. The lead unit helped to demonstrate the effectiveness of V/STOL aircraft in the Falklands campaign.
Britain had planned to sell one of the Invincible-class V/STOL carriers to Australia after the third was completed. Air support to the fleet at sea was to be given by land-based airborne early warning (AEW), strike, reconnaissance, and maritime patrol aircraft flown by the Royal Air Force.
However, the Falklands conflict provided unequivocal proof of the need for sea-based aircraft to support naval operations and all three ships were retained. (British land-based combat aircraft had a limited role, with numerous in-flight
105
Proceedings / July 1991
refuelings required to support operations from the nearest available airfield, Wideawake on Ascension island, some 4,000 miles from the Falklands.)
With three Invincible-class V/STOL carriers, the Royal Navy can keep at least one ship fully operational, with the others in overhaul, training, or transit. Also, improved aircraft will be flown from those ships. The advanced Sea Harrier FRS Mk 2 V/STOL attack aircraft— fitted with the Ferranti Blue Vixen radar— are being procured. And, the EH 101 Merlin multipurpose helicopter is in advanced development to replace the Sea King on board British carriers. Although marginally smaller than the Sea King, the Merlin will have substantially more mission payload.
In addition, the Royal Navy operates the 26,421-ton aviation support ship Argus. Built as a merchant ship (launched in 1981), she has been modified with a large amidships flight deck (372'/a x 92 feet), hangar deck, and two aircraft elevators to serve as a V/STOL-helicopter training and transport ship.
India: The massive expansion of the Indian Navy during the 1980s include the acquisition of a second British light carrier, the Hermes, which had seen action in the Falklands Conflict. Thus India now has the 19,500-ton Vikrant (ex-Hercules) and 28,706-ton Viraat (ex-Hermes). Both aircraft carriers operate Sea Harriers and Sea Kings, with the Viraat updated with a 12° ski-ramp. Up to 20 Sea Harriers could be embarked in the larger ship, with normal complements being six Sea Harriers and nine Sea Kings.
The Indian Navy is planning a further expansion of its sea-based aviation with a French-designed 30-35,000-ton ship to be constructed in India. To some degree she will be a conventionally propelled version of the Charles de Gaulle, but would probably operate only V/STOL aircraft and helicopters. (Until the mid- 1980s the Indian Navy flew fixed-wing ASW aircraft from the Vikrant.)
Long-range Indian plans call for the acquisition of at least two new carriers, the first to be completed in 1997; at that time the older ships would be relegated to the helicopter assault role.
Italy: The Italian Navy completed that nation’s first aircraft carrier, the Giuseppe Garibaldi, in 1985. The naval disasters of 1940-1941 had demonstrated the need for ship-based aircraft in the Italian Navy and, belatedly a large liner was converted to the aircraft carrier Aquila, but that ship was not finished when Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943. Thus, the 13,2409-ton V/STOL carrier is the first Italian avia
tion ship to go to sea since World War 1.
The Garibaldi now has a complement of only 16 SH-3D Sea Kings. Compatibility trials with Royal Navy Sea Harriers were flown in 1988 and acquisition is expected. The ship can accommodate ten Sea Harriers and one Sea King in her hangar, plus additional planes on deck. The forward flight deck has a slight sheer, to improve seaworthiness; it could be heightened to provide a true ski-jump for V/STOL operations.
A second ship is planned and a third has been discussed.
Also, in 1988-1989 the Italian Navy took delivery of the two small, 7,665-ton San Giorgio-class amphibious ships. These ships, as noted above, use deck stowage only for five or six troop-carrying or ASW helicopters. Still, they can provide useful aviation support as well as an emergency platform for Harriers.
Japan: The Japanese Maritime SelfDefense Force (navy) has long contemplated the acquisition of an aircraft carrier, especially since the formal extension in the 1980s of Japanese maritime patrol responsibility to a distance of 1,000 nautical miles from the home islands. The political sensitivity to any “offensive” weapon system has made the subject almost taboo. A 1988 announcement that a 20,000-ton carrier was being proposed in the budget was quickly retracted.
It may be possible, however, for the Japanese to acquire a “surface combatant ship with an enhanced helicopter- V/STOL capability—using a euphemism for aircraft carrier. The British initially called their Invincible-class ships through-deck cruisers” in a similar ploy to avoid the politically sensitive term “aircraft carrier.” The current Japanese destroyers can embark up to three HSS-2 (SH-3) Sea King helicopters; possibly follow-on ASW destroyers could accommodate twice that number, and a subsequent design still more. Obviously, ships carrying ASW helicopters and, possibly, a tilt-rotor or other advanced-technology AEW/ASW aircraft must be considered as primarily defensive ships.
Spain: The Spanish Navy took delivery of the 16,200-ton V/STOL carrier Principe de Asturias in 1988. That ship replaced the former U.S. Navy light carrier Dedalo (ex-Cabot, CVL-28), which Spain operated since 1967. The Principe de Asturias is the U.S. Navy’s sea control ship (SCS) design of the early 1970s. Advocated by then-Chief of Naval Operations (1970-1974) Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, the SCS was intended from the outset to operate Harriers as well as helicopters.
The new Spanish ship has a 12° ski-
ramp forward, facilitating the operation of up to ten EAV-8B Harriers plus about 12 various type helicopters.
As indicated above, Great Britain. India, Italy, and Spain are now fly'n? i Harriers from aircraft carriers (in addition to the U.S. Marine Corps, which regU' larly operates AV-8B Hamers from amphibious ships).
Only in the helicopter category is the picture bright for carrier-based aircraft to fly from V/STOL carriers: United Tech- nologies/Sikorsky provides two maj°r variants of the SH-60 Seahawk suitable for shipboard operation4; the European Helicopter Industries’ EH-101 is planned for British, Canadian, and Italian shipboard use; advanced naval variants of the Anglo-French (Westland) Lynx are available; and both Bell and Italy’s Agusta offer improved variants of the renowned UH-1 Huey for shipboard use. These helicopters can be fitted with a variety ASW sensors and weapons as well as antiship missiles.
Significantly, although the Soviet Union has the largest force of VSTOL carriers with four of the Kiev-class ships and the new Admiral Kuznetsov 0ate Tbilisi), the Soviet VSTOL effort has not been overly successful. The current Yak- 38 Forger is considered a mediocre aircraft, although it has a greater VTO/L performance than that Harrier with a 64% VTO/L payload advantage over the AV-8A model and 25% over the AV-8B- The Soviet successor to the Yak-38, the Yak-41 has apparently experienced development problems and has not become operational.
Although the Soviets have demonstrated the ability to fly modified land- based fighters from the Admiral Kuznetsov, the requirement for V/STOL aircraft to fly from the four Kievs coupled with the new, post-Cold War relationship between the Soviet Union and NATO, make it likely that a future U.S. or European-developed STO/VL aircraft could fly from a large number of aircraft carriers—including possibly Soviet carriers —in the 21st century.
'See Vice Adm. Robert F. Dunn, USN (Ret.), “Time To Take a Flying Jump,” Naval Institute Proceed■ I ings (January 1991), pp. 107-108.
"This ship, completed in 1945, served in the Royal Navy until 1948, when she was purchased by the Netherlands, which in turn sold her to Argentina it 1968.
’That decision ended more than 50 years of fixed- wing naval aviation in the Royal Australian Navy- ' 4The SH-60B is the LAMPS III variant intended t.': operation from surface combatants while the SH-60F 1 is for carrier operation, although the former can be flown from carriers. The principal differences are it | their sensors (e.g., radar, sonobuoys in the SH-60B 1 and dipping active sonar in the SH-60F).
j
Proceedings / July 1991