U.S.S. America (LHA-6) and Global Hawks in the news

Discovered the news that Northrop-Grumman won the contract to do the replacement to the Tarawa class Amphib. Did a Google search and found images of the LHA-6 U.S.S. America. Also Cdr Salamander's blog that gave more details about the ship than the corporate website (kinda odd I thought).

Any way, it appears the island on the starboard side is at least as long as the other amphibs in the U.S. Navy. From the CGI images, I'm guessing its slightly narrower than before.

The ship is designed to transport 20+ F-35s (if that program doesn't crash and burn!). Also carries V-22 and CH-53 helicopters. With this ship, the well deck is gone-so no hovercraft like the LCACs.

And like Cdr Salamander, this is basically a baby escort carrier for the 21st century. He wrote down the general characteristics of both the LHA-6 and the old Midway class aircraft carrier.

(Quote)

And yes, I could call it a small CV or CVS - it is the right size.

General Characteristics: LHA-6

Displacement:-Approximately 44,971 long tons full load

Length:-------844 feet (257.3 meters)

Beam:---------106 feet (32.3 meters)

Draft:--------23 feet

Propulsion:---Two marine gas turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total brake horsepower, two 5,000 horsepower auxiliary propulsion motors

Speed:--------20+ knots

Crew:---------1,059 (65 officers)

Load:---------1,687 troops (plus 184 surge)

Armament:-----Two RAM launchers; two NATO Sea Sparrow launchers (with Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM)); two 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts; seven twin .50 cal. machine guns

Aircraft:-----A mix of: F-35B Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) STOVL aircraft; MV-22 Osprey VTOL tiltrotors; CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters; UH-1Y Huey helicopters; AH-1Z Super Cobra helicopters; MH-60S Seahawk helicopters

Just to compare, remember the USS CORAL SEA (CV-43)?

General characteristics: Midway-class aircraft carrier

Displacement:-45,000 tons

Length:-------968 ft (295 m)

Beam: --------113 ft (34 m) waterline

Draft:--------35 ft (11 m)

Propulsion:---Geared steam turbines 212,000 shp

Speed:--------33 knots (61 km/h)

Crew:---------4,104 officers and men

Armament:-----Original armament:

----------------84 × Bofors 40 mm guns,

----------------68 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

----------------18 × 5"/54 caliber Mark 16 guns

--------------Refit armament:

----------------16 Sea Sparrow

----------------2 close-in weapons systems

Armor:--------Belt: 7.6 inch

Deck:---------3.5 inch

Aircraft carried: Up to 130 (World War II)

45-55 (1980s)

(end Quote).

He then went off on a side-note about naming the following on ships of this class. I personaly like his choices. But I'm still worried that one of the big Ford class nuclear CVNs may not be named after U.S.S. Enterprise. I'm in fact a bit worried that that name will somehow appear on one of these smaller hulls of the America class.

I have also dug into my archives for the blog postings I did on the U.S.S. Enterprise and on the Japanese Helicopter deck destroyers (i.e. Carriers). Both links are below. But I do want to quote part of that article here:

Currently, the 18,000-ton, 610 foot long, Hyuga (DDH 181) is jointed by sister ship Ise. A third ship of this class is still planned. The next carrier will be longer with a flight deck of 763 feet long. It will weigh in at about 25,000 tons. Currently these ships will operate the SH-60s of which 10 to 11 can be carried by the Hyuga class. Crew size is in the 350 personnel range.

Checking out Wikipedia, DDH-181(Hyuga) and sister DDH-182 (Ise), will be able to operate Harriers and F-35 Lightning IIs when they become operational. The ships will then be equipped with a 12 degree ski-jump.

Smaller carriers-they may be named something else to get the funding needed to get them built, but they are coming no matter what. Anyway, links below.

As an aside, also on the Northrop-Grumman website, was this little bit of news about testing of two Global Hawks doing mid-air refueling! Check out that news release as well!

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Cdr Salamander blog (http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2008/07/uss-america-returns.html).

Northrop-Grumman website (http://www.northropgrumman.com/) & press release for LHA-6 (http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=195497).

Two Global Hawk UAVs Will Conduct mid-air refueling oepration test. (http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=195525).

Link to my post about naming a future carrier U.S.S. Enterprise (http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com/2009/08/there-shall-always-be-uss-enterprise.html).

This is my post about Japan's Helicopter Destroyer class Ise (http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com/2009/09/japan-is-gettin-back-into-carriers.html).

Bell Helicopter's Hybrid Tandem Rotor Idea

Here is a video link to something that was posted on the blog The DEW Line.  Follow this link to check it out ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll_bIhnV2Es&feature=player_embedded).

Something new from Bell.  This is their candidate for replacing both the AH-64 and UH-60 helicopters in an all new configuration that Bell calls Hybrid Tandem Rotor.  Bell's executive VP for government programs, Robert Kenney; stated to the public recently.

Quoting from the DEW Line posting by Steven Trimble(May 4, 2009), "The HTR 'splits the difference between a helicopter and a tiltrotor," said Kenney at the resent Army Aviation Association of America's (Quad-A) convention held in Nashville, Tennessee. 

The Bell-Boeing V-22 can tilt its tandem rotor 95 degrees, while the HTR's wing tilts by 25 degrees and gains 5 degrees more by adjusting the cyclic controls.  The HTR could achieve a forward speed of 225 knots.  The V-22 cruises at mroe than the 300 knots.  Currently the fastest helicopters are limited to about 170 knots.

This particular configuration has never been attempted before - or so Bell engineers think.  Kenney himself went after the engineers and designers with all sorts of questions and they answered him right back.  At the end of the presentation, Robert Kenney was asking himself why anybody hadn't seen this before. Why it hadn't been tried before. "Now that you see it it's kind of a no-brainer."

Right now, this is just a concept.  There are no plans to make a actual prototype demostrator.  Unless the US Army launches a new competition to replace the AH-64 and UH-60s.  The program, known as the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) requirement does exists, but as of yet, not been funded to enter a long-term development phase. For the foreseeable future, the US Army will stick with what it has right now.  

Bell, however, was hoping to "spark some interest" in the US Army at the recent Quad-A convention.  As VP Robert Kenney said, "This is a kind of it's coming out party, so we'll see what the interest levels are." 

UPDATE(May 8, 2009): received permission to post the concept artwork for the HTR from Bell.

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Ref. ( http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2009/05/bell-helicopter-reveals-hybrid.html).

A Interesting Two Week in Aerospace News
by shanksow

Mars Moon Phobos More of a Pile of Rubble-from Space.com article by Clara Moskowitz posted on October 16, 2008. (www.space.com/scienceastronomy/081016-mars-moon-rubble.html).

The largest of Mars two moons might be more of a collection of rubble than a single body. Quoting Pascal Rosenblatt of the Royal Observatory of Belgium who is a member of the Mars Express Radio Science team. The mass and volume information allowed researchers to reckon Phobos' density, and the scientists found that the moon is not solid, but probably filled with giant caverns. Researchers call this kind of body, which is basically a clump of rocks held together by gravity, a rubble pile.

The density of Phobos is 1.85 grams per cubic centimeter (0.067 pounds per cubic inch) – is lower than the density of Martian surface rocks. Their density is anywhere between 2.7 to 3.3 grams per cubic centimeter (0.098 to 0.119 pounds per cubic inch). Its (Phobos) density is more like that of the asteroids and its sister moon Deimos. In other words, its doubtful that the two moons were formed out of Mars itself.

There will be a Russian mission launched in 2009 to check out Phobos specifically; its called Phobos-Grunt mission.


V-22 Osprey Doing Well is Iraq Operations-from comcast.net news (www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20081020/ML.Iraq.Bats.from.Hell/)

After twenty plus years of development, the V-22 Osprey is operational and the Marines that are flying the machine call it a “Bat out of Hell.” It doesn't carry the same firepower as the old CH-46 Sea-Knight helicopters, but that is offset by the Osprey's higher speed. The one major complaint appears to be that there is no firepower fixed up forward, the aircraft carries a machine gun that is fired from out of the rear of the tilt-rotor.

Other critics of the V-22 cite the soaring costs of the aircraft - $100 million per unit when you factor in the research and development costs. The Osprey has been flying in Iraq since September 2007. With the Osprey, new tactics have been developed to maximize the positives of the machine. Come in high to avoid ground fire, the drop into the landing zone. The Ospreys currently operate out of Asad air base.

If the tilt-rotor is hit in one of its engines, the other can still power the other rotor for auto-rotation to land safely if needed.