Faithin Omaha eBook Collection

Download or read book Modernizing the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Fleet: Accelerating CVN 21 Production Versus Mid-Life Refueling written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Navy is currently designing the next generation aircraft carrier, the CVN 21. This class of carriers will use the same basic hull form as the current Nimitz class, but will include a substantial redesign of the interior of the ship for improved weapons handling and stores management functions. It also will incorporate several new technologies, including a new propulsion plant and new aircraft launch and recovery systems. These improvements not only will increase the operational capability of the ship, but also are anticipated to lower the ship's manpower requirements and maintenance costs. Under current force modernization plans, new ships of the CVN 21 class will be introduced every 4 or 5 years as the ships of the Nimitz class reach the end of their planned 50-year operational life. Under this strategy, Nimitz-class carriers will be operating for more than 50 more years and it will take decades to transform the aircraft carrier fleet to ships of the new class. On the basis of some preliminary calculations that appeared promising, the RAND Corporation proposed to the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Aircraft Carriers an examination of a way to accelerate the transformation of the carrier force: replacing Nimitz-class carriers as they reach midlife instead of refueling them. In this report, RAND identifies specific fleet management options for building new instead of refueling, and evaluates their advantages and disadvantages. This report should be of interest to Navy and Office of Secretary of Defense planners who are examining fleet modernization options, especially the personnel addressing the costs of alternative force structure options.