Aircraft Carrier ^[11] ), in order to Carrier-based aircraft Large surface combatant ships that are equipped for primary combat and provide a base for their maritime activities. Referred to as "aircraft carrier", in a broad sense includes Helicopter carrier ^[29] .

Modern aircraft carrier, press displacement Can be divided into large (more than 60,000 tons), medium (30-60,000 tons) and small (less than 30,000 tons) aircraft carriers, according to Power plant Can be divided into conventional power and Nuclear power Aircraft carriers, according to combat missions can be divided into attack, anti-submarine and multi-purpose aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers are mainly used to attack surface ships and submarines, strike land targets, coastal bases and port facilities, and seize operational sea areas Air supremacy , Mastery of the sea , Electromagnetic control power , Support Landing operation Etc. ^[29] . Aircraft carrier attack power, maneuverability, seaworthiness, good seakeeping, strong protection ability, usually with cruiser , destroyer , frigate , submarine and Supply ship Such escort ships form aircraft carrier battle groups to carry out combat missions ^[24] .

The aircraft carrier has a large deck and islands, most of which are located on the starboard side. An aircraft carrier is usually a carrier centered battle group ship, with other ships in the fleet providing carrier protection and supplies, while the carrier provides air cover and long-range strike capability.

The aircraft carrier is an indispensable weapon of the modern navy and one of the most important ships in naval warfare. With an aircraft carrier, a country can exert military pressure and conduct operations far from its own territory, without relying on local airfields. The aircraft carrier has become an indispensable weapon of the modern navy, and has also become a symbol of a country's comprehensive national strength ^[5] .

Chinese name: Aircraft carrier
Foreign name: Aircraft Carrier ^[11]
Field of application: navy
subject: Military science
Setting time: July 1917

Abbreviated form: Aircraft carrier
Equipping country: America , China , Britain , France , Russia , India , Italy , Thailand Etc.
Main battle weapon: Carrier-based combat attack aircraft
Dynamic system: Conventional power, nuclear power

catalogue

Development history

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EDITOR

Historical background

with The first Industrial Revolution The development of metallurgy, machinery, engineering, ballistics and chemistry has provided conditions for the development of weapons and equipment to be mechanized. By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, it was characterized by large machine production The Second Industrial Revolution The rise of electric energy and the development of internal combustion engines and their wide application in the military have brought weapons and equipment into the era of mechanization. Land, sea and air warfare weapons have developed vigorously, and mechanized weapons have begun to appear on the war stage. In terms of naval warfare weapons, as the naval powers pursue the policy of "big ships and big guns", modern maritime forces led by battleships and supported by cruisers, destroyers, frigates, submarines and other ships have emerged. The use of aircraft to support naval warfare led to the birth of the aircraft carrier as a platform for aircraft taking off and landing at sea.

July 25, 1909, the French Bleriot The plane flew over English Channel . In the same year, the Frenchman Kleiman Ade first described to the world the idea of combining aircraft and warships. In his book "Military Flight", he first proposed the basic concept of aircraft carriers and the initial idea of building aircraft carriers. But his idea did not attract the attention of the French, while the Americans and the British found the idea of military value ^[32] .

American pilot, November 14, 1910 Eugene Ely Eugene Ely piloted a "Curtis" biplane for the first time to take off from the "Birmingham" cruiser with a 25-meter wooden runway on the front deck, completing the first time in history that humans piloted an aircraft from a military ship.

On 8 January 1911, Ely made the first successful landing of the same aircraft aboard the cruiser Pennsylvania, which had a 36-meter runway and 22 intercepting cables on the rear deck.

In 1912 and 1917, British Lieutenant-Colonel Samson and Lieutenant Colonel Dunning took off and landed from moving warships, respectively. The flight tests of American and British pilots gave birth to the birth of aircraft carriers ^[25] ^[31] .

The first flight took place on 14 November 1910

The first landing was made on 18 January 1911

The first landing was made on 8 January 1911

Construction process

In June 1917, the British converted a cruiser into the world's first The aircraft carrier USS Fury It carries 20 aircraft, but the building in the middle of the original cruiser has not been dismantled, the deck is two before and after, and the aircraft is inconvenient and dangerous.

The aircraft carrier USS Fury

The final form of the cruiser Fury after a complete refit

The British aircraft carrier HMS Harem

In 1918, the British converted the "Kagis" mail ship under construction into an aircraft carrier and renamed it The aircraft carrier Argus . It was the first aircraft carrier to have a straight deck, with a flight deck 168 meters long. Below the deck is the hangar, with multiple lifts to lift the aircraft to the deck, which can carry 20 aircraft ^[31] . In September of the same year, the ship was commissioned into the Royal Navy's operational order. As the First World War was drawing to a close, the war was over before the Harem, which had rushed into service, had time to take part. The Harem had to stay in the Royal Navy fleet. In view of the "Hundred eyes Giant" after all is from the passenger ship transformation, all aspects of performance have great limitations, the outside world is not considered a regular aircraft carrier ^[32] .

British construction began in 1918 The aircraft carrier USS Rodeo . In 1919, the Japanese based on the British "Hermes" aircraft carrier design The aircraft carrier Fengxiang . It was first commissioned in November 1922, becoming the world's first purpose-built aircraft carrier. The British aircraft carrier HMS Rodeo was commissioned eight months later. "Fengxiang" and "Competition God" are carrying more than 20 aircraft, and have straight decks and Bridges. Prominent structures such as the masts and chimneys were moved to the right of the flight deck, a layout characteristic emulated by later aircraft carriers.

The USS Langley, America's first aircraft carrier

In 1922, after the First World War, the naval powers signed the treaty Washington naval treaty "Strictly controlled battleship The treaty allowed each party to convert two battleships into aircraft carriers with a displacement of 33,000 tons.

Since then, the United States, France, and other countries have also built aircraft carriers. However, at that time, many people in the navies of various countries had the same concept, and regarded heavy artillery ships as the main force to win sea battles, while aircraft carriers were only auxiliary forces of the fleet, and the main task was to transport aircraft for reconnaissance.

The British Navy's 20 vintage biplane torpedoes on November 11, 1940 Swordfish attack aircraft from Aircraft carrier USS Glory They took off and sank three Italian battleships in Taranto.

In May 1941, the British chased and sank Germany's largest The battleship Bismarck In the naval battle, the British aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft played an important role. Although the examples of these battles showed that the heavy guns represented by the battleships were passive in front of the naval carrier-borne aircraft, the British Navy, which had a strong traditional concept, still did not fully understand the role of aircraft carriers, resulting in great losses in the subsequent Pacific Sea battle. Instead, to Isoroku Yamamoto The Japanese Navy, on behalf of the Japanese Navy, attached great importance to this and specially sent people to collect and study The Battle of Taranto The intelligence. subsequent Pearl Harbor attack It's the Battle of Taranto all over again.

In the early morning of December 7, 1941, 354 Japanese aircraft launched from six aircraft carriers attacked Pearl Harbor The United States Pacific Fleet. They sank and damaged four battleships each, 16 cruisers and destroyers, destroyed 188 aircraft, killed and wounded about 4,500 officers and soldiers, and nearly all of the U.S. Pacific Fleet except for aircraft carriers, while the Japanese lost only 29 aircraft.

World War II aircraft carriers (5 photos)

May 4-8, 1942 The Coral Sea Battle It is a completely new type of long-range naval battle between carriers and carriers, which is won by carrier-based aircraft. The United States had two aircraft carriers and 122 aircraft, while Japan had three aircraft carriers and 121 aircraft. As a result, one American carrier was sunk, another damaged, and 66 aircraft lost; Japan sank one carrier, damaged two and lost 85 aircraft. The two fleets never met or fired a single shot at each other. This naval battle changed the face of traditional naval warfare. In the subsequent series of naval battles in the Pacific, the United States won most of them. It can be said that the United States finally won the Pacific naval war with the help of aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers have become the dominant force in the new era of naval warfare ^[31] .

In World War II, aircraft carriers were Pacific War Played a decisive role on the battlefield. From a Japanese navy aircraft carrier Pearl Harbor attack The fleets of the United States and Japan have not met from beginning to end Battle of the Coral Sea To the use of aircraft carrier formation for decisive battle at sea Battle of Midway Aircraft carriers replaced battleships as the backbone of modern ocean-going fleets. America built a lot of them Essex-class aircraft carriers Formed a huge aircraft carrier formation, became the protagonist of the sea battle.

After the end of World War II, all countries in the world pay attention to the development of aircraft carriers suitable for their own national conditions in order to safeguard their own maritime interests. The United States after the war against the Essex class and Midway class aircraft carrier Modernisation was carried out and the retrofit project included additions Angled flight deck , Steam catapult And landing aid equipment, improve the efficiency and safety of carrier-based jet aircraft. High performance jet It can be carried on modern aircraft carriers, and the displacement of aircraft carriers is increasingly large.

Forrester class aircraft carriers It was the first class of conventionally powered aircraft carriers built by the United States after World War II to carry jet aircraft. The United States still found some deficiencies in the use of this class of aircraft carriers, so it carried out large-scale transformation and upgrading when building the next class of aircraft carriers, that is, the new type Kitty Hawk class aircraft carrier . The class is the world's largest class of conventionally powered aircraft carriers and the last class of conventionally powered aircraft carriers in the United States ^[1] .

In the 1950s, although the number of active aircraft carriers in the navies of various countries was reduced, the performance and attack capability were greatly improved, the displacement was increasing, the number of carrier-borne aircraft was increasing, and the performance of aircraft was getting better and better.

On February 4, 1958, the United States began construction of the world's first nuclear-powered ship The USS Enterprise Enterprise was commissioned on 25 November 1961.

The biggest advantage of the use of nuclear power plants for aircraft carriers is to improve endurance. The endurance of conventional power aircraft carriers is generally 1.5 to 27,000 kilometers, and nuclear power aircraft carriers can be 50 times this, greatly enhancing the ability of ocean operations and continuous duty.

Ten more were built in the United States after the 1970s Nimitz-class aircraft carriers . "Enterprise" and "Nimitz" full displacement of more than 90,000 tons, can carry 90 aircraft, the latter shape is slightly larger, endurance is twice the former ^[31] .

In the 1980s after the occurrence of Anglo-A Falklands War , U.S. airstrikes on Libya and Gulf War Aircraft carriers have played an extremely important role.

In the 21st century, the United States built a new class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers The aircraft carrier USS Ford Construction of the ship began in 2009 and the ship was delivered to the U.S. Navy in late May 2017. Uss Ford is 337 meters long, 76 meters high and 78 meters wide on its flight deck. It can carry 75 carrier-based aircraft. Full displacement of 110,000 tons, the maximum speed of more than 30 knots, about 2,600 crew. The ship is equipped with advanced electromagnetic catapults and landing interception systems, which are more efficient than traditional steam catapults and arresting cables, and the fighter attendance is expected to increase by 33%. Compared with the previous Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the nuclear power plants of the Ford-class aircraft carriers can produce three times the electricity, and the two nuclear reactors are fully loaded with nuclear fuel, and the Ford can sail continuously for 20 years. According to the US Navy, the overall degree of automation of the aircraft carrier Ford has been greatly improved, effectively reducing manpower requirements and costs ^[33] .

The aircraft carrier USS Ford

prospect

Entering the 21st century, some major naval states will continue to develop large nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. For example, the new generation of CVNX-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers demonstrated by the United States, with a full intercept displacement of about 110,000 tons, are designed in accordance with stealth, innovative power systems, ship-wide information networks, new concepts of aircraft take-off and landing recovery devices, and carrying unmanned aircraft operations. With the improvement of vertical/short take-off and landing aircraft performance. Some countries will continue to focus on the development of medium and small conventionally powered aircraft carriers. In addition, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries have also made a lot of demonstration and tests on the feasibility of submersible aircraft carriers, which is expected to become a development direction of aircraft carriers ^[24] ^[29] .

Technical characteristics

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Overall design

An important feature of the aircraft carrier structure is the spacious flight deck. It is mainly for carrier-based aircraft to take off, land, park and maintenance, refueling, loading and other service support. The flight deck is generally 180-340 meters long, 21-77 meters wide, rectangular and wilted, and divided into takeoff areas, landing areas and waiting areas. The landing area generally adopts an angled deck, which is inclined to the center line of the ship at an Angle of 8°-12°, which can ensure that multiple carrier-based aircraft take off and land at the same time without affecting each other to improve safety. The deck is equipped with carrier-based aircraft lifts, take-off catapults, landing arrester devices and landing AIDS. The island superstructure is located on the starboard side of the mid-flight deck. Below deck, there are large hangars and oil and ammunition storage rooms, as well as facilities and equipment for carrier aircraft repair, maintenance, refueling, inflating, oxygen supply, traction, teaming, washing, lifting and fire fighting, and communication, navigation, detection, guidance and command and control systems and rooms for carrier aircraft ^[24] .

General layout diagram of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

Flight deck

Flight deck (6 photos)

The flight deck is the upper deck on the aircraft carrier for aircraft takeoff and landing and parking, which can be divided into take-off area, landing area and parking area according to the mission requirements. Aircraft carriers need flight decks that are much larger than the width of their hulls. Especially after the appearance of the diagonal two-section deck, it is necessary to further distinguish the take-off section from the landing section, so the width of the flight deck is increasing. Generally speaking, the width of the flight deck of a large aircraft carrier is almost twice the width of the hull, and the width of the flight deck of a small and medium-sized aircraft carrier is about 1.5 times the width of the hull. The flight deck is divided into straight flight deck and angled flight deck ^[6] . The flight deck of a modern aircraft carrier is usually an angled flight deck, so the deck is much wider than the hull. Because the flight deck has to withstand the strong impact load of the aircraft during landing, it needs to be made of high-strength metal.

Angled flight deck

Angled flight deck (5 photos)

From the advent of aircraft carriers until the early 1950s, the flight deck of aircraft carriers was straight through. Its shape is rectangular, and the anti-impact net divides the deck into two parts: the front is for the aircraft to take off and park; To the rear is the aircraft landing area. When the net is lowered, the front and rear areas are combined, and the carrier aircraft can be operated from the stern forward catapult The free ranging run takes off.

with jet On board the ship, the limitations of the straight-through deck were revealed. In the early 1950s, England captain Carmel brought it up Bevel deck After testing, it proved to have many advantages, and gradually became the standard deck style of modern aircraft carriers.

The aircraft carrier deck is divided into three parts: the forward straight deck for the takeoff area, the rear half of the beveled deck for the landing area, and the oblique straight intersection to form a triangular parking area. The slope of a deck at an oblique Angle Deck center line The Angle to the center line of the aircraft carrier. The advantage of an angled deck is that landing aircraft cannot hook Arresting cable When, you can pull up immediately Go around Without colliding with a plane parked on the front deck. In addition, carrier-based aircraft can take off and land at the same time ^[5] ^[28] .

Carrier island

Enterprise's island

Modern aircraft carriers usually have the superstructure concentrated on the right side of the flight deck, called the "Flight deck". Ship island ". In terms of aircraft takeoff and landing requirements, there is nothing above the deck, but the aircraft carrier's control tower, flight control room, navigation room, radar And communications antennas need to be high above the deck. Therefore, the superstructure of modern aircraft carriers is designed to be very compact, leaving most of the deck to facilitate aircraft takeoff and landing. Modern aircraft carriers strive to reduce the cross-sectional area of radar reflection by concise appearance, and have achieved the "agglomeration" of the superstructure, including multi-function Phased array radar , close mast (AME/S), Electromagnetic Radiation Systems (MERS), and Multi-function Radio Frequency Systems (AMRFS) ^[5] .

Elevating unit

lift

An aircraft carrier elevator is a device that transports aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck. In the early days, two or three ships were installed in front, center or rear of the midline of the all-through flight deck. The lift is also the most vulnerable part of the deck, if the lift is broken or damaged, it will cause the aircraft to be unable to take off and land, and then lose combat effectiveness. In addition, the bomb may also penetrate the elevator, and the elevator is close to the storage compartment of ammunition and fuel, which will lead to extremely serious consequences once detonated. Therefore, since the "Wasp" aircraft carrier began to adjust the position of the lift to the side of the ship, in addition to not hindering takeoff and landing operations and safety, there is also the advantage of aircraft wingspan more than the width of the lift can also be used. The first generation of aircraft carriers, the "Forrest" class, had a lift in front of the angled deck to allow the aircraft to land immediately into the hangar. However, it was later found that such opportunities were rare, and the waves thrown up by the aircraft carrier during navigation would affect the carrier-borne aircraft. Therefore, since the "Kitty Hawk" class, the lift position has been adjusted to the side of the ship. The lift of modern large aircraft carriers is more than 20 meters wide, 15 meters deep, can carry 100 tons of weight, and the lifting speed is about one minute to move an aircraft from the hangar to the deck ^[5] .

The ship hangar

The hangar of an aircraft carrier is a place to accommodate and overhaul carrier-based aircraft, usually occupying 2 to 3 deck heights, and is the largest and highest cabin space on an aircraft carrier. From the perspective of the development of aircraft carriers, there have been two types of open hangars and closed hangars.

From the advent of the aircraft carrier until the middle of World War II, the hangar on the aircraft carrier is open, the upper deck of the ship is the hangar deck, the flight deck of the aircraft carrier is used as a hangar, is a kind of open-air hangar without any next door. Since the middle and late World War II, the closed hangar of the aircraft carrier has gradually become a trend, which is a hangar structure with the flight deck as a strong deck, the flight deck is firmly connected with the strong longitudinal beam, and the longitudinal door extends from the flight deck to the ship's body.

hangar

With the increasing size of modern combat aircraft, aircraft carrier hangars must be large enough to accommodate all aircraft. Therefore, the hangar on the aircraft carrier is generally 200 to 250 meters long, 25 to 33 meters wide, and 6 to 9 meters high, in order to meet the number and size and height requirements of carrier-based aircraft. The hangars of large aircraft carriers are the size of four or five large theatres. The Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in active service has a hangar 208.48 meters long, 32.92 meters wide and 8.08 meters high, which can accommodate dozens of combat aircraft ^[5] ^[10] .

In order to accommodate more aircraft, the wings, nose and tail of the carrier aircraft are made to fold, and the folded aircraft are neatly arranged in the hangar next to each other. In order to ensure the safety of the hangar, the hangar is divided into 2 to 4 shorter hangars with folding fire doors. Usually, the folding door is closed, and it is a large hangar of Unicom, which is convenient for the mobilization and maintenance of the aircraft. In case of emergency (such as a fire), the folding door can be quickly put down, dividing a large hangar into several smaller hangars, which can prevent the fire from spreading to the entire hangar and improve the safety of the hangar.

The purpose of an aircraft carrier hangar is not just to house aircraft on board; Aircraft carrier hangars are usually not full, but to leave space for maintenance of carrier-based aircraft and flight operations preparation and other important work places, the hangar is also a material transfer station. The hangar is equipped with power supply, hydraulic source, compressed air source, nitrogen source and other supply sources and positions. The mother hangar is a repair shop, responsible for the maintenance of carrier-based aircraft and other equipment maintenance; The largest function of the hangar besides the storage of carrier-based aircraft is the repair and maintenance of carrier-based aircraft ^[5] .

The ship's Arsenal

magazine

The armory on an aircraft carrier is for storage Bombs , torpedo , Guided missile , rocket The area for such weapons is located at the bottom of the ship, under the waterline, one at the bow and one at the stern, and the hangar in the middle. Weapons are mostly assembled for storage. In order to get them to the deck, the Arsenal has special lifts smaller than the aircraft lifts (the "Nimitz" class, for example, has nine weapon lifts, which are shaped like a door that opens from the deck upwards and can be covered up as part of the deck if not needed), and the weapons are raised from the warehouse to the upper deck, where they are periodically assembled by the operators on each floor. It is then carried up by other lifts on the deck (partly to the hangar) to prevent accidental detonations of ammunition. There is also a weapons concentration area connected to the right rear of the island, which is called the "weapons ranch". If the ammunition explodes, the ship island can be covered to reduce the damage to the aircraft on deck. After World War II, U.S. Aircraft carriers also needed to design and compartments separate ammunition depots for storing and assembling nuclear weapons, known as Special Aircraft Services Stores (" Special Aircraft Services Stores "). SASS "). During the Cold War, due to the secrecy and sensitivity of nuclear weapons, there were special handling and operating procedures for the use of ammunition depots, personnel access control and security, and no personnel without relevant training and verification were allowed to approach them ^[2] ^[5] .

Fighter take-off and landing

Ejection take-off

Steam ejection takeoff

An F/A-18 prepares for ejection

Aircraft carriers use a flat flight deck as an airstrip, and a steam-powered ejector propels the aircraft to takeoff speed in two seconds. It is produced in the United States Steam catapult The mature technology. In principle, the steam catapult uses high-pressure steam to push the piston to drive the slider on the ejection track, which ejects the connected carrier aircraft. The steam catapult is large and consumes a lot of steam when working, and the fresh water is wasted seriously, only about 6% of the steam is used. To make and deliver steam, the carrier must be equipped with desalination plants, large boilers and countless pipelines, and the work and maintenance is staggering. Its biggest drawback is that it cannot be ejected because the ejection force is too strong drone -- Current drones are so lightweight that they can be torn apart during ejection.

There are two types of steam ejection:

Tow line ejection

Tow line ejection It's the old way from the '50s. As the name suggests, it uses a steel towing cable to pull the plane to accelerate takeoff. This kind of ejection method is relatively rare, in all aspects is not as good as the front wheel traction ejection, only the French "Clemenceau" class aircraft carrier used. For a tow line ejection, a crew of 8-10 deckhands were required to use a steel tow line to hang the aircraft to the slide, and an index release rod to secure its tail to the rear end of the catapult. During ejection, the powerful forward slider pulls off the fixed force on the index release rod, and leads the aircraft to accelerate rapidly along the track. At the end of the track, the aircraft is accelerated to a straight takeoff speed and thrown off the deck, the tow line falls off the aircraft, and the slider returns to the starting point of the catapult for the next work.

Front wheel traction ejection

Front wheel traction ejection It was successfully tested by the United States Navy in 1964. In this way, the front wheel of the carrier aircraft is mounted on the towing rod, and the front wheel is directly hung on the slider. When ejecting, the slider directly pulls the front wheel of the aircraft to accelerate takeoff, eliminating the need for 8-10 deck personnel to hang and pick up tow lines. This way the ejection time is shorter, and the direction of the aircraft is safe. However, the front wheels of such carrier-based aircraft need to be specially designed. All American aircraft carriers use this type of takeoff.

Electromagnetic launch

Electromagnetic catapult

Electromagnetic ejection It is a carrier-based aircraft takeoff method for a new generation of aircraft carriers. Compared with the traditional steam catapult, the electromagnetic catapult has the advantages of small volume, low requirements for the auxiliary system on board, high efficiency, light weight and low operation and maintenance costs. Electromagnetic ejection uses electromagnetic energy to push the object being ejected outward. with Steam catapult Compared with the electromagnetic catapult, the main advantages are that the volume is reduced a lot, the number of operators is about 30% less, and the ejection force of the electromagnetic catapult can be controlled to catapult the UAV. The disadvantage is power consumption, but for an all-electric carrier and Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier It's not too much of a problem. The U.S. Navy began conducting technical research on the electromagnetic catapult system in 1982, until the electromagnetic catapult entered the finished test phase in the fall of 2004. The U.S. Navy selected General Atomic Energy as the manufacturer after testing the U.S. Navy Technology website revealed that General Atomic's system uses linear electromagnetic acceleration motors already in place New Jersey Tests were completed at the Hearst Lake Test Center. American electromagnetic catapult technology has been used on the Ford-class aircraft carrier ^[7] .

Ski-jump takeoff

Ski-jump takeoff

Some aircraft carriers have a "jump platform" at the front of their deck to help the aircraft take off, that is, the forward part of the deck is made into a slope. After sliding, the carrier aircraft rushed out of the deck along the upturned slope, forming an oblique throwing motion, and continued to accelerate in the air to reach the take-off speed within a distance (tens of meters) just after leaving the mother ship. This kind of takeoff does not require complex ejection devices, but the weight of the aircraft is not as good as that of the ejection takeoff, which makes the carrier aircraft's load of fuel, load of bombs, range and combat radius subject to certain constraints. The United Kingdom, Italy, India and Russia and other countries due to technical limitations, temporarily unable to develop a real catapult in technology and technology clearance, so the use of ski jump deck on the aircraft carrier. Aircraft carriers using ski-jump takeoff must sail upwind at more than 20 knots (36 km/h) to increase the relative speed of the aircraft to help them take off ^[5] .

Vertical take-off and landing

The F-35B Joint Strike Fighter takes off and lands vertically

Vertical take-off and landing Technology is the aircraft can take off and land without the need to run, from the late 1950s began to develop an aviation technology.

Aircraft using vertical take-off and landing technology are flexible and have advantages that conventional aircraft do not have. First, aircraft with vertical take-off and landing capabilities do not require a dedicated airport and runway, reducing the cost of use. Secondly, VTOL aircraft only need a small flat land to take off and land, so in the war aircraft can be dispersed configuration, easy to camouflage, not easy to be found by the enemy, greatly improving the survival rate of the aircraft on the battlefield. Finally, since VTOL aircraft can take to the air even from damaged airstrips or front-line airstrips Attendance rate It is also greatly improved, and the attack on the enemy has a high degree of surprise.

But aircraft using VTOL technology also have many drawbacks. The first is the short voyage. Due to the realization of vertical takeoff and landing, the takeoff weight of the aircraft can only be 83% to 85% of the engine thrust, so that the payload of the aircraft is greatly limited, affecting the fuel load and range of the aircraft. At the same time, when the aircraft takes off vertically, the engine is in the maximum working state, and the fuel consumption is great, so the combat radius of the aircraft is limited. Such as when Harrier With a payload of 1060 kg, the combat radius is only 92 km. Therefore, in actual use, the Harrier aircraft tries to use a short takeoff to extend the range of the aircraft. Therefore, the vertical takeoff and landing aircraft is also called Vertical/short take-off and landing aircraft .

Carrier catapults are very demanding for maintenance. To completely solve the problem of safe landing, it is best to land vertically. Therefore, ultra-short take-off and vertical landing have become the basic trend of the development of carrier-based aircraft in take-off and landing. Vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft such as the Sea Harrier can land directly on the flight deck without the need for landing AIDS such as arresting ropes and arresting nets. The deck area required for vertical landing of a Sea Harrier is usually about 20 meters in diameter. At this point, the carrier does not need to turn around or do other maneuvers to ensure that the Sea Harrier fighters are facing the wind ^[8] ^[14] .

landing

The landing of fixed-wing carrier-borne aircraft on an aircraft carrier not only requires radar, radio communication, photoelectric system and optical guidance device to guide, but also its landing process is relatively complex. According to the distance of the carrier aircraft from far to near, its process can be divided into homing, standby, approach, glide, arrest or return flight five stages.

Homing phase: Ask and answer the location. After the completion of the mission, the carrier aircraft will generally choose to return to the carrier. At this point, it enters the homing phase. The first thing a pilot does is ask, "Where is the carrier?" This kind of question is not shouted directly through the microphone, but with the help of the air tactical navigation system that the ship and the aircraft have. Because at this time, the distance between ships and aircraft is often very far, and the action distance of other communication means is limited, and the air tactical navigation system with a long communication distance comes in handy. This radio navigation system is called "TACAN" by the US military. From the system on board, the pilot sends an inquiry pulse to the shipboard system, which sends back a response amplitude-modulation pulse. By calculating the time difference and phase difference between the inquiry pulse and the response AM pulse, the relatively accurate distance and position information between the carrier and the aircraft carrier can be obtained, and the assembly, navigation and homing tasks of the carrier aircraft can be planned accordingly.

Standby phase: Line up in the air for an "announcement." The aircraft carrier is equipped with air control radars, some of the latest air control radars can detect more than 300 kilometers. For the aircraft flying into the corresponding detection range, the air control radar is to identify and distinguish between friends and enemies, on the other hand, it is to grasp its type, body condition and flight parameters, according to which the ship landing sequence and accurate landing route are arranged, while providing meteorological and other support information. This stage is called the standby stage, in the case of more landing aircraft, the aircraft needs to fly in the air according to the standby route, "queued up" waiting for the next instruction from the aircraft carrier air traffic control center. On some carriers, there is more than one air control radar, and air control tasks are sometimes shared by early warning aircraft.

Arresting landing

Approach phase: Slow down your decision-making. When the pilot of the carrier aircraft in the standby stage receives the permission to land, he can fly the aircraft out of the standby route and enter the approach process. During this phase, the carrier aircraft began to slow down for approach. After reaching the specified distance and position behind the carrier, the carrier aircraft lowered its landing gear and further slowed down. During this phase, the ship is guided by the precision approach control radar/automatic guided landing system and selects the landing control mode - fully automatic, semi-automatic or manual mode - based on weather and pilot visual conditions. In the automatic mode, the pilot does not need to intervene and control the carrier-borne aircraft, and flies according to the information provided by the precision approach control radar until the carrier-borne aircraft safely lands. In the semi-automatic mode, the pilot of the carrier aircraft controls the landing of the aircraft according to the information provided by the precision approach control radar. In manual mode, the pilot corrects the error by voice communication with the landing commander to enter the glide path until the pilot sees the light signal displayed by the Fresnel lens optical landing aid system.

Down stage: Precise landing posture. At this stage, the aircraft can already be assisted by the Fresnel lens optical landing system and the laser landing system on the basis of the flight path planned by the precision approach control radar. For the optical slope projected by the optical landing aid system to be observed at a specific Angle, the pilot of the carrier aircraft must strictly abide by the relevant regulations and fly in the correct light layer. At the same time, the high or low attitude of the aircraft is adjusted in time. This stage is critical to the successful landing of carrier-based aircraft. Therefore, in order to ensure that carrier-based aircraft are on the correct flight trajectory, some countries use the instrument carrier landing system as an auxiliary device to make up for the insufficient working distance of the Fresnel lens optical landing aid system in bad weather, and provide reference for landing error correction by sending the information of taxi inclination and centerline deviation to the carrier-based aircraft.

Arresting net

Arresting stage: Hold the "rope" to define the body. At this stage, under the control of the pilot, the carrier aircraft will timely extend the tail hook and hook the arresting cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier. Before and after, "stability" has become a key element, one is to try to maintain the stability of the flight attitude of the carrier aircraft before hooking, and the other is to "stabilize" after the tail hook is hooked up to the arrester cable to reduce the possibility of accidents. If the landing goes wrong, the pilot needs to re-accelerate to pull up the aircraft and enter the next round of similar guidance process ^[9] .

The landing deceleration method is adopted Arresting cable Device sum Arresting net Device. Under normal circumstances, the arresting cable device is the main landing device for carrier aircraft to shorten the landing distance. The arresting net is a kind of emergency equipment used when the carrier aircraft is in a critical situation to land on the ship, generally not used, arresting landing is the main landing method, the United States active 11 large aircraft carriers, including the French Charles de Gaulle, as well as the Russian Kuznetsov and other aircraft carriers are using such landing methods.

Arresting cable In the center line of the beveled deck of a large aircraft carrier, the first arrest cable is generally set 55-60 meters from the end of the deck, and then one is set every 14 meters, and four are set in succession (but according to the development trend of the United States aircraft carrier, it will be gradually reduced to three). Each cable is approximately 3.5 cm in diameter, 35 to 50 cm above the deck, is stretched by bow springs, and its ends are connected by pulleys to hydraulic damping buffers below the deck.

Carrier landing procedure

Before the fixed-wing carrier aircraft lands, the landing gear and flaps are lowered in the air to achieve the purpose of slowing down and reducing altitude. At the same time, the ship's tail hook was lowered. After landing, the aircraft is still sprinting forward at a speed of about 200 km/h, and through the extended tail hook, it can hook any of the four arrest cables that are arched on the deck. The carrier aircraft hooked to the arresting cable glided on with great energy; The hydraulic damping buffer connected at both ends of the arresting cable drives the main piston pillar, and compresses the brake fluid from the hydraulic actuator into the accumulator, so that the air in the accumulator is compressed sharply, thus generating damping force. The longer the arresting cable is pulled, the greater the air pressure in the accumulator, the greater the damping force will be generated, and the speed of the carrier aircraft will be rapidly reduced. Under normal circumstances, the carrier aircraft can be completely stopped on the deck after running 60-90 meters. The U.S. Navy's MK-7 landing gear can stop a 22.7-ton carrier aircraft at a speed of 195 kilometers per hour within 92 meters ^[5] .

Clothing color separation

The aircraft carrier is officially delivered to the army, in addition to the pilot, the personnel on the deck of the aircraft carrier must wear the specified color clothing according to the duties and tasks, usually divided into seven categories; Those assigned to a particular type of work are distinguished by wearing different colored helmets or special markings. Under normal circumstances, the yellow vest clothing controls the take-off; Green coat is responsible for security; Red clothes are responsible for loading ammunition; Brown coat is responsible for landing the plane; Purple is responsible for refueling and hanging bombs; Blue is responsible for driving the tractor; White for cargo handling or medical ^[30] .

Air traffic control radar

Kitty Hawk air traffic control system

When an aircraft carrier lands on the deck of the carrier, it needs to follow the carrier's air traffic control procedures. Follow a fixed course into the glide ramp. The aircraft carrier landing facility is Air traffic control The core of the system is the air traffic control radar and the air traffic control console. On Kitty Hawk, for example, there is a square parabolic radar to the right of the ship's mast, AN/SPN-43 air traffic control radar. Aircraft flying within 250 miles will be monitored and tagged by the radar, and controllers will uniformly dispatch all aircraft seen on the radar. But Kitty Hawk's AN/SPN-43 radar is an old radar system that can only send analog signals to air traffic controllers, who need experience to dispatch carrier-based aircraft. In 2007, the U.S. Navy began replacing aircraft carriers with more advanced air traffic control radar systems. Moreover, the air traffic control information has been connected to the data link system on the aircraft, so the work intensity of the air traffic controller is reduced ^[9] .

Fresnel optical descent system

In order to ensure the safety of the carrier aircraft landing, the aircraft carrier is also equipped with Fresnel lens optical descent system . It enables the driver to better know its position information relative to the correct glide path, so as to facilitate safe landing. In addition, it is equipped with the gain visual carrier aircraft recovery system, which is installed on both sides of the landing system two rows of lights, it has a great impact on the safety of night landing, can indicate the settlement rate of the approach aircraft, the exact position of the approach aircraft is given by its tracking and detection system. The vertical green light array has two rows to show the driver that its settlement rate is too low, too high, or optimal. If the carrier aircraft can not put down the tail hook, or the tail hook is damaged, or the carrier aircraft is damaged, or the fuel is not enough and can not go around, etc., it needs to be forced to land. At this point, a temporary blocking net was needed to force the carrier aircraft to slow down and stop. Due to the large amount of aviation gasoline on board, fires are not uncommon. And in the event of an accident, the consequences are extremely terrible, often destroyed people ^[5] .

Dynamic system

Conventional power

Propulsion system

Conventionally powered aircraft carrier The power system is actually equivalent to moving the equipment of a medium-sized oil-fired thermal power plant to a large ship. Therefore, the power pack of a conventional power carrier is very similar to the equipment of a thermal power plant, the difference is mainly the source of steam energy: conventional power carriers generally burn diesel or heavy oil with oil-fired boilers. Britain's "Queen Elizabeth" class aircraft carrier power is Gas turbine and Diesel engine Combined, there is a hidden danger of insufficient total power. Aircraft carrier power pack needs equipment before launching." blowpipe That is, with high temperature and high pressure steam, the impurities and welding slag in the main steam pipe are blown clean so as not to harm the turbine rotor blades. At the beginning of the service of the Liaoning, black smoke and steam appeared from the sides of the front and rear waterlines, and a lot of noise was emitted at the same time, which was the blow pipe before the first power start.

Nuclear power

The Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactor of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Due to the energy source is Nuclear reactor Can provide almost endless steam. When the ship is not moving, most of the steam is used to generate electricity. The US Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier uses two Westinghouse A-4W reactors with 130,000 horsepower each to generate A maximum power of more than 50,000 kilowatts, which is considerable. The electricity consumption of a 100,000-ton supercarrier is equivalent to that of a small and medium-sized city. The United States Ford class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, electric energy has become the core of the whole ship's power. Most of the power of its steam turbines is used to generate electricity, with a total power generation of up to 100,000 kilowatts. It is expected that later batches of the Ford-class aircraft carrier will be propelled directly by giant electric motors airscrew . The energy of the giant motor is transmitted by the generator through the cable, so the whole ship, even the four power shafts are canceled, and the catapult and arrest of the carrier aircraft are all electric, which is the most advanced all-electric ship. America Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Rely on... Westinghouse The two nuclear reactors produce high-pressure steam to provide power and power. The power supplied is routed through the ship's 100km long main circuit.

Carrier-based fighter

The early carrier-borne aircraft carried by the aircraft carrier were basically the same as the traditional fighter aircraft. In order to meet the requirements that can be accommodated in a limited space and take off and land from the flight deck, carrier-based aircraft specially designed for aircraft carriers have come into being. Because they are given combat missions and can operate in harsh environments where the wind blows, the life span of carrier-based aircraft is usually not very long. Carrier pilots must have special flying skills, after all, it is much more difficult to take off and land on the flight deck than on flat land.

The types of carrier-based aircraft are mainly distinguished by their mission type. First of all, fighter aircraft are used to provide fleet air defense and attack protection Be on the alert against The task also has antisubmarine Ground attack capability. During World War II, a special type of aircraft was developed to sink enemy ships. Dive bomber Is the best representative, it is a type of aircraft that can attack from above the enemy's head. Torpedo attack aircraft are aircraft that can carry torpedoes or bombs, which were integrated into attack aircraft at the end of the war, and are now used to attack with precision guided bombs or missiles. To conduct a search Reconnaissance aircraft In the past, dedicated airframes have been developed, and now there are reconnaissance pods mounted on fighter jets Strategic reconnaissance aircraft And early days with powerful radars Early warning and control aircraft . Along with Attack plane The squadron can jam enemy radar and is a fairly reliable support aircraft. Also, due to the post-war submarine There was an improvement in performance Anti-submarine aircraft Sometimes the task is handed over to a helicopter. As for other aspects, since vertical/short takeoff and landing fighters only need to use very short runways, for light carriers without long flight decks or Amphibious assault ship It is often used as a fighter ^[1] ^[5] .

Aircraft carrier formation

Aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier formation

Types and representative models of carrier-based aircraft
type	Main task	Representative type
warplane	Air-to-air combat	America F-14 fighter jets
Attack plane	A combination bomber and torpedo aircraft	America A-6 attack aircraft
Fighter-attack aircraft	A combination of fighter and attack aircraft	America F/A-18 fighter jets
Electronic warfare aircraft	Support with electronic warfare	America EA-6B electronic warfare aircraft
Early warning and control aircraft	Rely on radar to search the enemy	America E-2 early warning aircraft
Anti-submarine aircraft	Search and attack enemy submarines	America S-3 anti-submarine aircraft
Transport aircraft	Transport materials	America C-2 transport aircraft

Launching process

Launching mode

Aircraft carriers are launched in "fixed dock" mode because of their large hulls. The fixed dock is generally built at the water's edge, after the warship is built in the dock, the water is directly introduced to the dock, the warship is lifted by its own buoyancy, and then the external power is used to drag it out, and the launching is completed. This method is suitable for large warships such as aircraft carriers. The US aircraft carrier Ford, which was launched in 2013, and China's first domestically built aircraft carrier, which was just launched, have both adopted this approach ^[21] .

Launching ceremony

There is usually a launching ceremony when an aircraft carrier is launched. The earliest launching ceremony in history took place Ancient Babylon Three POTS of asphalt were sprinkled on the ship, and the bull was presented to the gods, praying that the gods would keep the new ship safe. Later, ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome carried on the tradition.

In the 17th century, Europe downplayed the religious aspect of launching new ships. The tradition of "throwing the gold cup" gradually took shape. As the new boat glided down the chute, the host picked up the gold cup, took a sip of wine, then spilled the remaining wine on the deck or bow of the gold cup, and the empty cup was thrown overboard.

Later, "throwing the gold cup" was gradually replaced by "throwing the bottle gift". When launching, the guests threw a bottle of champagne at the head of the ship and smashed it, and gave a speech, indicating that the new ship would be "broken and safe". In the early days, it was usually men throwing bottles, but from the 19th century, it became the norm for women to throw bottles. In 2014, the British "Queen Elizabeth II" aircraft carrier was launched, and Queen Elizabeth II personally cracked Scotch champagne on the bow ^[21] .

Launching delivery

The first is outfitting That is, the installation of all equipment, installations and facilities of the aircraft carrier. Because the warship launching has a very strong vibration, it will affect the precision electronic equipment on the ship, so the work can only be carried out after the launch. The outfitting time of different warships is also different, and the outfitting process of an aircraft carrier as a large warship will take several years. The USS Ford was scheduled to take 28 months to complete outfitting and testing. However, due to the large proportion of new technologies adopted on the ship, outfitting alone took more than three years.

The second is the test and trial, that is, to check whether the power system, weapons and equipment of the aircraft carrier have reached the relevant design indicators, find the problems and defects of the warship, and ensure the construction quality of the warship, which usually takes one or two years. In 1966 and 1967, the Soviet helicopter carrier "Moskva" underwent three sea trials, during which many design flaws were exposed. After the ship was delivered to the Navy, because it did not have the conditions for service, it had to return to the shipyard for repair, and it officially joined the Black Sea Fleet nine months later.

The third is the handover, that is, the ownership of the aircraft carrier is handed over to the Navy from the shipyard, which is a sign of the completion of the warship. In general, the military organizes a ceremony to announce the ship name and side number of the warship, award the military flag to the new ship, issue a naming certificate, and raise the flag ^[21] .

Diagram of the aircraft carrier USS Truman

Performance data

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EDITOR

Aircraft carriers have different performance parameters due to their specific tasks and levels. The following takes the US active nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Bush as an example to introduce its performance data:

Uss Bush aircraft carrier reference data
Basic parameter
captain	The flight deck is 332.8 m long; The length between the columns is 317 meters; Angle deck length: 237.7 m;
Ship breadth	40.8 m (hull) 76.8 m (flight deck)
draught	11.3 m
Flight deck area	18,211.5 square meters
Hangar space	208 meters long, 33 meters wide and 8 meters high;
Standard displacement	101,000 tons
Full load displacement	104,000 tons
Top speed	30 knots
Shipboard establishment	The ship has 3,200 crew members and an air wing 2,480
Power plant
Power unit	2 x Westinghouse A4W pressurized water reactor, 4 steam turbines
Gross power	260,000 horsepower
propeller	Four axes, four OARS, two main rudder
Ship electric system
radar	One AN/SPS-48E3-D air search radar, one AN/SPS-49 (V) 52-D air search radar, One AN/SPQ-9B target acquisition radar, two AN/SPN-46 air control radars, one AN/SPN-43C air control radar, one AN/SPN-41 landing assistance radar, three Mk91NSSM guidance systems, three Mk95 Sea Sparrow missile fire control radars
Electronic countermeasures	One SLQ-32A (V) 4 electronic warfare countermeasures system, one AN/WLR-1H electronic warfare system, Ten MK-36 jammer launchers (SRBOC) and one SLQ-25ANixie torpedo countermeasure system
Command operations	ACDS Advanced Combat Command System (installed in 1990s), MK-23TAS target acquisition system, SSDSMK-2 Ship self-defense combat system
Shipborne weapon
Carrier-based fighter	24~36 F/A-18A/B/C/D fighters, 5 E-2C airborne early warning aircraft, Six EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft and six SH-60F helicopters
Antiaircraft missile	3 sets of MK-29 ESSM Sea Sparrow short-range air defense missile launcher 2 sets, MK-31 RAM Hiram short-range air defense missile system
Close-in weapon	Three MK-15 CIWS20mm Phalanx short-range defense weapon systems
Reference material ^[22-23]

Aircraft carriers by country

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EDITOR

Overview of the world's aircraft carriers
nation	Ship's name	Side number	Full load displacement (tons)	rank	Take-off mode	power	Service time
Active aircraft carrier
China	The People's Liberation Army Navy's Liaoning	16	-	-	Ski jump	steam	2012-09-25 ^[26]
	Shandong frigate of the People's Liberation Army Navy	17	-	-	Ski jump	steam	2019-12-17 ^[27]
	Fujian ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy	18	-	-	Electromagnetic ejection	-	-
America	The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz	CVN-68	97000 ^[42]	Nimitz-class	Steam ejection	Nuclear power	1975-05-03
	The aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower	CVN-69	97000 ^[41]				1977-10-18
	Uss Carl Vinson	CVN-70	97000 ^[40]				1982-03-13
	Uss Roosevelt	CVN-71	104600				1986-10-25
	The USS Lincoln	CVN-72	104112				1989-11-11
	The aircraft carrier USS Washington	CVN-73	104200				1992-07-04
	The aircraft carrier USS Stennis	CVN-74	103300				1995-12-09
	Uss Truman	CVN-75	103900				1998-07-25
	The USS Ronald Reagan	CVN-76	101400				2003-07-12
	The aircraft carrier USS Bush	CVN-77	102000				2009-01-10
	The aircraft carrier USS Ford	CVN-78	112000	Ford Class	Electromagnetic ejection		2017-07-22
Britain	Aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth *	CVA-01	65000	Queen Elizabeth Class	Short pitch	Conventional power	2017-12-07
Britain	The aircraft carrier Prince of Wales *	CVA-02	65000	Queen Elizabeth Class	Short pitch	Conventional power	2019-12-10
Italy	The aircraft carrier USS Ghafoor	550	27100	The Cavour class	Short pitch	Conventional power	2008-03-27
Italy	The aircraft carrier Garibaldi	551	13850	Garibaldi level	Short pitch	Conventional power	1985-09-30
Russia	The aircraft carrier Kuznetsov	063	61390	Kuznetsov class	Ski jump	Conventional power	1991-01-21
France	Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier	R91	42500	The de Gaulle class	Steam ejection	Nuclear power	2001-05-18
Thailand	The aircraft carrier USS Chacri Nalubert	R-911	11400	The Asturias class	Short pitch	Conventional power	1997-08-10 (Active, discontinued)
India	The aircraft carrier Vikramaditya	R33	45000	Base auxiliary stage	Ski jump	Conventional power	2013-11-16
India	The aircraft carrier USS Vikrant	R44	40000	Vikram Grand Class	Ski jump	Conventional power	Delivered 2022-07-28 ^[43] 2022-09-02 Service ^[44]
Türkiye	The aircraft carrier USS Anadolu	-	28000	-	Ski jump	Conventional power	2023-04-10 ^{[46] 45 -}
Aircraft carriers under construction have been launched
America	The aircraft carrier USS Kennedy	CVN-79	120000	Ford Class	Electromagnetic ejection	Nuclear power	Expected after 2020
Unlaunched aircraft carrier under construction
America	The USS Enterprise	CVN-80	132000	Ford Class	Electromagnetic ejection	Nuclear power	-
Aircraft carrier under planning
America	The aircraft carrier USS Miller	CVN-81	-	Ford Class	Electromagnetic ejection	Nuclear power	-
India	The aircraft carrier Vishal	R55	65000	Vishal class	Electromagnetic ejection	Conventional power	-
Note: With * is the two ship island Reference material ^{15-20] [} ^[36]

Service dynamics

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EDITOR

America

The United States Navy announced on January 16, 2007 that the United States' new first class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was officially named USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), in honor of the former president of the United States who died on the evening of December 26, 2006 Gerald Ford . The Ford, which began construction in 2007 and was delivered on July 22, 2017, is the first first-stage aircraft carrier built by the United States in the 21st century ^[2] .

The aircraft carrier USS Ford

Britain

Britain developed after the war. Invincible class aircraft carrier , using ski-jump decks and Vertical/short take-off and landing aircraft .

In 1982, the United Kingdom and Argentina met Falklands War In the middle, the British Royal Navy with two light aircraft carriers across more than 10,000 km expedition to the southern Hemisphere, on the doorstep of Argentina, a victory in the air battle played a 21:0 record ^[25] .

In 2014, the UK's Invincible class of aircraft carriers were all retired.

In 2009, the construction of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, Britain's new first class aircraft carrier, began. A total of two aircraft carriers of the class were launched on 7 December 2017 ^[3] And entered service on December 10, 2019 ^[4] .

British Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers

Soviet Union/Russia

The Soviet Union used vertical/short take-off and landing aircraft Kiev-class aircraft carriers (The Soviet Navy called it "Heavy Aircraft carrying cruiser Long-range missiles are installed. Later built The aircraft carrier Kuznetsov The use of ski jump decks avoids the need to install complex ejection devices ^[5] .

In April 2018, the Russian Ministry of Defense signed a maintenance contract with the United Shipbuilding Group of Russia for the maintenance and conversion of the Russian Navy's Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.

On June 14, 2022 local time, Rakhmanov, president of Russia's United Shipbuilding Group, said in an interview with RIA Novosti that Russia's only aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov" will return to the Russian Navy battle sequence in the first quarter of 2024. Kuznetsov was commissioned into the Soviet Navy in 1991, and was later inherited by the Russian Navy as part of the Russian Northern Fleet. The ship is 306.5 meters long, 64.5 meters high, and has a maximum speed of 29 knots ^[34] .

The aircraft carrier Kuznetsov

France

France has had ten aircraft carriers in its history. Since the late 1950s, France has entered the stage of independent development of aircraft carriers. The two Clemenceau-class aircraft carriers, Clemenceau and Foch, entered service in 1961 and 1963, respectively.

" The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle It's the most powerful navy in the world Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier , too French navy The only aircraft carrier in service is the symbol of the French navy. "Charles de Gaulle" is the tenth aircraft carrier in the history of France, named after the famous French military generals and politicians Charles de Gaulle . The "Charles de Gaulle" aircraft carrier marks the establishment of the most complete defense industry research and development system in Europe, and the vast majority of key weapons have achieved independent research and development and production, and many aspects are enough to be unique outside the two powers of the United States and the Soviet Union ^[5] .

China

Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning

China's first aircraft carrier The aircraft carrier Liaoning , yes The People's Liberation Army Navy The first ship is ready to carry Fixed-wing aircraft Its predecessor is the second ship of the Soviet-built "Kuznetsov-class" aircraft carrier. The Varyag ". In the early 1990s, the Varyag was launched Ukraine Suffered during construction Collapse of the Soviet Union Construction was halted, and the completion rate was about 68%. In 1999, China purchased the Varyag, which arrived on March 4, 2002 Dalian Port On April 26, 2005, the Chinese Navy continued construction and improvement. The PLA aims to re-build the unfinished aircraft carrier and use it for research, experiments and training. On September 25, 2012, it was officially renamed "Liaoning" and delivered to China The People's Liberation Army Navy Use ^[5] ^[39] .

The aircraft carrier Liaoning is powered by four steam turbines and propelled by four axes and four paddles with twin rudders. The carrier is powered by four steam wheel engines with a total of 200,000 horsepower. It can reach a maximum speed of 32 knots and a range of 4,000 nautical miles at 30 knots and 12,000 nautical miles at 20 knots. The ship's power system can provide 14,000 kilowatts of electricity, fuel reserves of 7,800 tons, and aviation gasoline reserves of 5,800 tons. The bow of the ship uses a ski-jump take-off deck, and the middle of the ship is equipped with four aircraft landing barriers and one emergency barrier net. The bridge island building is located on the right side of the flight deck with a deck/hangar lift to the front and rear ^[39] .

Shandong

On December 17, 2019, China launched its first self-built aircraft carrier The Shandong aircraft carrier Serve.

Fukien

Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian launched^[37]

On June 14, 2022 local time, The United States "The Drive" website reported that according to the satellite pictures provided by the satellite photo service provider "Planet Lab", the launch of the Chinese Navy's Type 003 aircraft carrier will be carried out in the near future ^[35] .

Satellite images provided by Planet LABS show that water has begun to fill the large dry dock where the Type 003 aircraft carrier is located. At the same time, the aircraft carrier's flight deck, which is in the final stages of construction, has been stripped of various pipes and most of the shelter sheds, leaving only three sheds that cover the location of the carrier's electromagnetic catapults. The carrier has been decked out with flags and other celebratory decorations such as banners in preparation.

The Type 003 is the second domestically built aircraft carrier built by China and will soon be the country's third aircraft carrier. The Type 003 carrier uses electromagnetic catapults instead of traditional steam catapults. According to the experience of the US Navy Ford class, electromagnetic catapults can theoretically reduce the loss of carrier-based aircraft during takeoff and expand the range of carrier-based aircraft that can be used by catapults, including catapulting smaller and lighter UAVs.

The US media is also paying attention to the development of carrier-based aircraft closely related to China's new aircraft carrier. According to The Drive website, the Type 003 carrier will almost certainly carry newer carrier-based aircraft, including the J-35 stealth carrier-based aircraft that China is developing and the KJ-600 carrier-based early warning aircraft. Both are very similar to the U.S. Navy's F-35 fighter jet and E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft, respectively. At the same time, J-15T fighters and J-15D electronic warfare aircraft may also take off from the Type 003 carrier. The Drive, an American website, attributed the similarity to the fact that China's carrier air force composition "mimics" the formation of future US carrier air wings, but noted that the Chinese Navy also needs to install various unmanned aerial vehicle platforms on its carriers and other ships ^[35] .

On the morning of June 17, 2022, the launching and naming ceremony of China's third aircraft carrier was held at China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited Jiangnan Shipyard Hold. Approved by the Central Military Commission, China's third aircraft carrier has been named" Fujian ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy The board number is "18". Fujian is China's first fully designed and built catapult type aircraft carrier, with flat straight long flight deck, equipped with electromagnetic ejection and blocking devices, full displacement of more than 80,000 tons. After the ship is launched, it will carry out mooring tests and sailing tests as planned ^[37] . China will take into account the need to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as the operation characteristics of aircraft carriers and port support conditions, and scientifically select the deployment site of the Fujian warship ^[38] .

China's aircraft carrier Shandong

Overall evaluation

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EDITOR

The aircraft carrier with a brilliant record is not a vain name, it has long become a strategic symbol, marking a country's determination. Wherever an aircraft carrier formation goes, it must be the focus of global attention. There is no diplomatic conflict in the world that can't be resolved by a single carrier group, or if there is, two. This powerful deterrent power and radiation effect is unmatched by any other naval warfare equipment ^[12] .

War practice has proved that the use of aircraft carriers and carrier-borne aircraft has opened up a new era of maritime warfare, changed the mode of naval warfare, and declared the end of the era of "big guns" ^[13] . ( Chinese military online review )

The aircraft carrier is a symbol of the country's comprehensive national strength and is one of the core of the country's maritime power. In peacetime, it can exist in reality, carry out peaceful diplomacy, safeguard maritime sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, contain crises, and play a strategic deterrent role. During wartime, it can perform a variety of strategic, operational, and tactical combat tasks far from its homeland and base. The aircraft carrier has the characteristics of strong comprehensive combat ability, both offensive and defensive, good navigation performance and seaworthiness, and great endurance ^[29] . ( Chinese Military Encyclopedia Military Equipment review )

Aircraft carriers sail in formation

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