On Track to Tomorrow's Carriers

由radm。H. T. Rittenour和Mark O'Hare上尉
NAVAL AVIATION NEWS1997年1月

明天的载体。它会是什么样？它的功能是什么？我们将如何修改今天的运营商来利用在船上肯定会发生40至50年寿命期间发生的技术突破？自1993年以来，海军一直在制定一项综合计划，以使我们的航空母舰在下一世纪进行现代化。该策略的一个重要特征是一种双轨方法，将使过去现代化并过渡到未来，同时保持基本能力和力结构。该策略的第一个要素是在2002年（FY）的第十和最后一个Nimitz级运营商CVN 77（FY）的采购。计划于2008年进行调试，CVN 77将取代47岁的小猫Hawk班级- 载体。她还将是一艘过渡船，并结合了当前正在进行的运营商研发（R＆D）努力的新技术。

CVN 77的经验奠定了傻人ndation for the second element of our dual-track strategy�the design of a new class of aircraft carriers. Construction of the first ship of the new class, now referred to as CVX, is scheduled to begin in FY 2006. The CVX will retain the core capabilities resident in our carriers today, but will also feature improved characteristics in selected areas, such as launch and recovery equipment; flight deck lay-out; Command, Control, Communi-cations, Computers and Intelligence (C 4 I); and survivability. And, crucially, the ship will incorporate features that make it more affordable to operate.

Together, these two programs will ensure that the Navy preserves a modern, capable carrier force which meets the requirements of our war-fighting commanders and provides enduring military value for the taxpayers� dollars. The dual-track strategy will enable us to transition from the highly successful� but 1960s-vintage�Nimitz design to one specifically designed to the operational mandates of the 21st century.

Shaping the Strategy

If past experience is any guide, the �average� Nimitz-class carrier will make 25 overseas deployments, respond to over 20 major interna-tional crises, and see action in sever-al regional conflicts over its nominal life span. While the Nimitz class continues to meet our security requirements very well, major changes in threats, missions, tech-nology and budgets call for a review of fundamental assumptions. The basic principles and core capabilities of sea-based aviation�its value and role in providing peacetime pres-ence, response to crises and winning regional wars�will endure, but we must review how we fulfill these principles, including the design of these aviation sea bases. The Defense Department�s 1993 Bottom-Up Review, which directed the Navy to evaluate �a full range of sea-based platforms to project air power and meet our military needs in the period 2020 and beyond,� pro- vided us with the opportunity to develop what eventually became our dual-track strategy.

The key threads in the strategy as it has evolved are risk assessment and balancing, ascertaining the remaining economical service lives of our older ships, and deciding when we will have to add new ships to the fleet in order to maintain force structure and combat capability. These, in turn, depend upon opera-tional tasking, the funding available for R&D, new construction and upgrades, acquisition strategy, and the state of the carrier industrial base. They also depend on develop-ments in existing and prospective aircraft programs, since individual carriers must have the ability to accommodate current and projected air wings, as well as on the output of the Joint Strike Fighter and other future aircraft programs.

管理风险还意味着具有长期战争能力的近期力量结构。直到1996年，与运营商相关的研发还没有30多年。因此，CVX的设计以及将以可行的成本使其可行的技术将无法立即可用。而且，我们仍然需要一个新建的载体来取代我们的最后一个小鹰级传统载体，因为她在下一世纪的前十年达到了服务寿命的终结。因此，CVN 77将是一座关键的力量结构桥，特别是如果海军要维护我们的11+1个汽车摩托车结构，则由参谋长联席会议。实际上，力结构要求是未来载体方程的最基本的“驱动程序”。载体部队的水平很大程度上取决于总区域曼德人（CINCS）的需求。

The CINCs, whose areas of responsibility encompass the three strategic deployment �hubs��the Mediterranean basin, Persian Gulf/Indian Ocean area and the western Pacific�all seek a continuous car-rier presence in their regions, but filling this demand would require a force of at least 14 carriers, a number that is currently unafford-able.

海军会议在保诚-其全球承诺dent risk with a force of 12 carriers. But this carrier force is being stretched, so the replacement program has been struc-tured to maintain at least 12 of these critical warships at all times. Preserving our force structure and capabilities requires newly construct-ed carriers. Further extending the ser-vice lives of existing carriers could help us meet our current require-ments but would do little to ensure that we have a combat- and cost-effective force in the future. CVN 77 and the first CVX will replace two older, less capable carri-ers: CVN 77 will replace a Kitty Hawk-class carrier in 2008, while the first CVX is slated to relieve the 52 year-old Enterprise (CVN 65) in 2013. The Navy has worked to get the most service out of these older carriers, conducting a Service Life Extension Program on the Kitty Hawk-class ships and a nuclear Refueling/Complex Overhaul on Enterprise. These actions have added more than 15 years to the originally planned service lives of the older ships, but as they age further, the cost of maintaining and modernizing them will increase significantly.

最后，风险管理还包括关键的载体工业基础。我们迫不及待地等待新的运营商建设，而没有产生重大费用来重组失去的造船厂和ven-dor能力并重新培训熟练的人员。在第九尼米茨级承运人罗纳德·里根（CVN 76）上的建设开始于去年，并将于2002年完成。当前的预测表明，仅在结构性交易中，如果有超过2,000多名熟练的船屋工人，如果hiatus hiatus to hiatus to hiatus to发生在CVN 76的完成日期和CVN 77的开始日期之间。试图重建这种类型的工业能力根本不现实或对财务负责。

Developing the Carrier Force of Tomorrow

双轨策略代表了航空母舰进化的又一步一步。``进化''一词是适当的，因为承诺``固定能力''的计划通常伴随着不受欢迎的高水平技术和财政风险。当处理像航空母舰这样复杂的平台时，尤其如此。因此，双轨策略采用了建筑块方法，依靠持续的研发计划和一系列技术恶魔策略。最终结果将是更有能力的系统，更实惠的系统或两者兼而有之。

除了维持力结构外，CVN 77还将作为Nimitz类和CVX之间的技术桥梁发挥关键作用。通过适度的研发工作，CVN 77将是Nimitz班级中最重要的技术先进的船，并将利用第一个CVX计划的一些技术。将这些关键设计的FEA元素纳入CVN 77可能会使总拥有（生命周期，运营和支持）成本降低多达15％。一旦实施和评估了这些功能，它们也可能会重新安装在现有的CVN中，从而大大降低了这些船只的剩余生命周期和支持成本。目前正在考虑的一些概念包括一个详细信息系统，光纤式骨架和区域电气分布。根据可用的资金，CVN 77也可能是用于多功能，嵌入式天线等系统的测试床，这些天线可以取代目前填充现有载体岛的许多雷达和其他天线。该船还可以采用改良的岛屿结构，该结构更多地利用复合材料来管理载体的雷达签名。

海军既没有时间也没有钱introduce major design changes in CVN 77. Changes in propulsion, for instance, were ruled out due to high technical, schedule and fiscal risks, as well as our current dependence on steam catapult technology.

We will apply many of the techni-cal and operational lessons learned from CVN 77 to the new CVX class. Moreover, the CVX design will incorporate additional innovations and capabilities. The Navy is pursu-ing some targeted improvements in future carrier designs that build upon the capabilities resident in our current class of carriers. The CVX Program Office (PMS 378) has distilled a number of specific goals from these broad categories, including:

Reducing reliance on ship-assisted launch and recovery.
Increasing sortie generation capabilities to match the projected fast turnaround capabilities of next-generation aircraft.
Improving ship survivability against future threats.
提高C 4 I容量。
Alleviating topside design con-gestion.
Achieving a higher degree of commonality with the Navy�s other future ships.
减少人力要求。

There may be several ways to reach these goals. For instance, to improve the efficiency of flight oper-ations and aircraft turnaround, the program office is investigating elec-tromagnetic and internal combustion catapults, possibly integrated with ski-jumps. Other options include automated weapons selection and movement to aircraft, and advanced systems for flight operations manage-ment encompassing air operations and launch and recovery control. As far as increased survivability is concerned, the significant topside design changes being examined for our future carriers and reductions in other electromagnetic signatures could make CVX significantly �quieter.� The ship�s self-defense sys-tems will be tailored to respond to the proliferation of antiship missiles and other threats throughout the world. Automated battle damage manage-ment and zonal electrical distribution will allow a smaller crew to effective-ly cope with damage while opera-tions continue.

The CVX team is also examining many other measures to ensure that the future carriers are combat- and cost-effective. It will review all propulsion alternatives, from improved nuclear plants to gas tur-bines. The CVX may also benefit from �virtual organizations,� where the crew is linked to other organiza-tions by state-of-the-art C 4 I systems. And, recognizing that the new carrier will have a potential life span of 40 to 50 years, the team is developing a design that is easily modified to accept upgrades over the course of the ship�s service life.

As we move to meet these techni-cal challenges, however, we must always keep the affordability of CVX in mind. The Department of Defense faces a period of tight budgets into the foreseeable future, and one of the key considerations in maintaining the health of our carrier force is our abili-ty to buy and operate new ships with-out breaking the Navy�s shipbuilding or operations and maintenance bud-gets. To this end, the Navy plans a design to reduce life-cycle costs in the new class by 20 percent. We have taken some major steps along the path toward CVX this year. The program officially entered the concept exploration phase in late March when the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, Dr. Paul Kaminski, approved the mission need statement and the preliminary acquisition plan for CVX. Additionally, in the FY 1997 budget, Congress appropriated the first carrier-specific R&D funding in decades.

For its part, the Navy has initiated a cost and operational effectiveness analysis. The first part of this effort will examine various concepts of oper-ations for employing sea-based, com-bat aviation in future conflict scenar-ios. Among other things, this analysis will focus on the required size and composition of future air wings. We have also convened the CVX Oversight Group, which meets monthly to receive briefings on and provide input to critical, near-term issues that arise during the analysis. The group is made up of flag-level participants who assist the Navy�s decision-making process as the analy-sis proceeds through its first year. Channels are also in place to solic-it critical fleet input to the future car-rier acquisition process (see �Ike Paves the Way for the Future,� p. 44). Fleet Process Teams convene quarter-ly on each coast to ensure a contin-ued exchange of information between fleet representatives and CVX pro-gram engineers.

A Dual Track to the Future

The Navy is addressing a multi-tude of operational, technical, fiscal and programmatic issues as it imple-ments the carrier replacement plan and program for the 21st century. Our paramount concern is supporting CINC requirements for an affordable and effective carrier presence in their areas of responsibility, both today and tomorrow.

The dual-track carrier procurement strategy ensures that the Navy is always able to meet our national security requirements whenever and wherever we are needed. The strategy also ensures that we are good stew-ards of the taxpayers� money. Using CVN 77 to leverage its design changes in support of present and future carriers is not only smart, it is clearly in the best interests of dwin-dling defense budgets.

We are confident that this strategy will maintain the high-caliber, high-capability carrier force that the United States possesses today, and extend it well into the middle of the next century.

RAdm. Rittenour heads the Carrier and Air Station Programs Branch of the Air Warfare Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Capt. O�Hare is Program Manager, Aircraft Carrier Program Office, Naval Sea Systems Command.