Doubts over whether newest US aircraft carrier can defend itself

[Piotr]

Doubts over whether newest US aircraft carrier can defend itself​

25 Jan, 2022 16:10
A new report identified ‘several design shortfalls’ in the vessel which had not previously been detected

A $13 billion aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is adding to the Pentagon’s worries after a new assessment noted that the vessel is “yet to demonstrate that it can effectively” defend itself against anti-ship missiles and other threats.

The report, obtained by Bloomberg News in advance of its release, details that the ship’s missile interceptors, radar, and data-dissemination systems performed inconsistently under test conditions, limiting the vessel’s capacity to destroy incoming and hostile weapons.

The Pentagon’s testing office said that an assessment of key systems “identified several design shortfalls not previously discovered,” adding that the navy had already highlighted areas where the vessel, and its three sister ships, could be enhanced to improve survivability.

Its deficiency in neutralizing incoming threats was apparent even though sensor systems “satisfactorily detected, tracked and engaged the targets,” the assessment said.

The vessel’s Gatling gun-like system also “experienced numerous reliability failures that in several cases prevented the system from executing its mission,” the test office said.

The report, which contains unclassified and “controlled unclassified” information, has already been circulated to the Navy, Bloomberg said. It claimed that “only a limited assessment” of the combat system’s effectiveness is currently possible and noted that the testing office plans to send an interim report to Congress by September 30.

The vessel, the first in a new class of nuclear-powered carriers which will project US power around the world, has been dogged with reliability issues since it was delivered to the Navy four years ago.

Last January, a similar report highlighted issues with the ship’s next-generation takeoff and landing systems. The latest assessment also noted the “poor or unknown reliability” of its aircraft launch and recovery systems.

https://www.rt.com/news/547318-us-aircraft-carrier-problems/

 

[Beny Karachun]

Lol, Russians trying to cope, because their crappy aircraft carrier is a burned down, rusty POS.

A US aircraft carrier group is the most well defended geographic area on the planet.

 

[Piotr]

Lol, Russians trying to cope, because their crappy aircraft carrier is a burned down, rusty POS.

A US aircraft carrier group is the most well defended geographic area on the planet.

Afghanistan showed how stronk USA really is. USA is only good in torturing prisoners.

 

[Beny Karachun]

Afghanistan showed how stronk USA really is. USA is only good in torturing prisoners.

Lol, the US can kill everyone in Afghanistan 10 times over. Taliban only shown how weak and unmotivated Afghan army was.

 

[Abid123]

I have said it before and I will say it again. US aircraft carriers are sitting ducks against hypersonic missiles. A saturation attack by hypersonic missile will sink any US aircraft carrier and after that destroy the entire battle group.

 

[Tshering22]

I have said it before and I will say it again. US aircraft carriers are sitting ducks against hypersonic missiles. A saturation attack by hypersonic missile will sink any US aircraft carrier and after that destroy the entire battle group.

Yeah and do you know the importance US places on its carriers? We might be critical about their mercantile politics here in Asia, but let's admit it; their CBGs are the deadliest force projectors in the world. Do you think that the US won't use its missile arsenal from every damn ship in its CBG to strike that country's coast if hypersonic missiles are flying?

Come on man. Let's not assume them to be so naive after so many years.

 

[925boy]

I have said it before and I will say it again. US aircraft carriers are sitting ducks against hypersonic missiles. A saturation attack by hypersonic missile will sink any US aircraft carrier and after that destroy the entire battle group.

not only vulnerable to HGVs, also AsBMs, AsCMs, etc.

 

[Beast]

Lol, the US can kill everyone in Afghanistan 10 times over. Taliban only shown how weak and unmotivated Afghan army was.

Why US can't kill off Taliban? You can scream 100times but doesn't change the fact, US is just a paper tiger.

I have no respect for a country who don't even dare to retaliate when Iran fired ballistic missile at their bases.

 

[Abid123]

not only vulnerable to HGVs, also AsBMs, AsCMs, etc.

True even missiles with supersonic speeds are a threat. Hypersonic missile= Bye bye US carrier group

 

[Abid123]

Have you guys noticed how americans have this habit of telling «that if you sink our aircraft carrier we will nuke your country». This tells how much they value the life of others. How cheap the blood of non americans are. They are willing to kill 10s if not 100s million people only because someone sank their carrier.

A US aircraft carrier group is the most well defended geographic area on the planet.

I feel sorry for you if you really believe that.

 

[Goritoes]

Let there be no doubt, no one will even dare to Attack US Air craft carriers with or without protection.

 

[applesauce]

Let there be no doubt, no one will even dare to Attack US Air craft carriers with or without protection.

Hubris much?

in peacetime? of course no one is going to attack a US carrier group. and those rouge actors(terrorist for example) have no ability to even if they wanted.

but this statement is pretty much true for naval vassals of any major power. even minor powers can be relative confident of safety from attack in peacetime.

"Let there be no doubt, no one will even dare to Attack British Air craft carriers with or without protection"

"Let there be no doubt, no one will even dare to Attack Russian Air craft carriers with or without protection"

"Let there be no doubt, no one will even dare to Attack Chinese Air craft carriers with or without protection"

are all true in peacetime.

in war everything changes. you go to war with russia and they have an opportunity to sink a carrier, they'll do it.

 

[Stranagor]

Most likely people in high places find that there is more money to be made out of this fat milk cow, so, why not continue to milk?

 

[serenity]

Yeah and do you know the importance US places on its carriers? We might be critical about their mercantile politics here in Asia, but let's admit it; their CBGs are the deadliest force projectors in the world. Do you think that the US won't use its missile arsenal from every damn ship in its CBG to strike that country's coast if hypersonic missiles are flying?

Come on man. Let's not assume them to be so naive after so many years.

Launching their missile attacks blindly at a country's coast will not do anything since HGV are launched far inland and even 10000 missiles do not cover a coastline as long as Japans. A missile attack on an oil refinery or an airbase require around 100 cruise missiles just against such a small area.

Most of the missiles carried are air defence types and cruise missiles for land attack. A tiny bit of anti ship missiles but that's really assigned to aircraft to do instead.

In order for CBGs to defend against hundreds of HGVs + ASBM and then thousands of anti ship missiles whether supersonic, subsonic, sea-skimming or in the air like Onyx, they need to have at least one interceptor missile against each attacking missile. A CBG does not carry even half of that amount and with HGVs and ASBMs they at the moment cannot intercept them with existing missiles. A total rethink of missile guidance and seeking method needs to be done. The Chinese method for successful HGV interception must have ignored the previous, new interception point method which all missiles currently use because HGV has too much energy for that to work. Your interception missile will need so much fuel that the volume would be like a Boeing airliner in size for that required energy at long enough range to build the the energy through acceleration. The method I think would require deep understanding of how the hypersonic vehicle is bouncing around and exploit predictive pattern.

Even intercepting hundreds of sea skimming supersonic anti ship missiles in attacks of multiple directions is difficult enough. They may succeed but new developments always counter countermeasures. It's just an arms race game for the super rich and resourceful.

So according to Chinese leakers on strategic technologies public domain just doesn't see, in more recent years, already back in the 1990s the US turned to electronic method and had intense radar spoofing technology developments. They call it NEMESIS and recent years Chinese leakers say the arms race domain was totally focused in electronic and cyber domain which got much more enhanced from machine learning being integrated into the mix. They say Chinese countered several US new developments and US constantly seeking total advantage through paradigm shift warfare but electronic sphere is uncertain in real world and newer countermeasures when exposed by intelligence, then each side make certain realizations and feel there is no certain guarantee in war. This sort of leak is touched on with a few sentences once in a long time and never discussed further except when commentators questioned, the response inevitably is this field is the highest secrecy in warfare. All modern warfare begins and ends with electronic and algorithm for many years to decade now.

The SM-1,2,6 classes and ESSM is more focused for 1980s to 2000s level developments which they consider in trial and theory to be able to protect the fleet enough except in perfectly well coordinated saturation attacks and there are ways to determine how many the other side can shoot. Stuff from Raduga missile to Onyx, YJ-xx to things like LRASM, these interceptors and defence quipment like phalanx are designed to deal with.

They are not able to deal with ASBM unless they can use SM-6 to perform mid course intercept but that requires their destroyers to be so close in range to ASBM launch site. It is not realistic. Terminal intercept of ASBM is extremely hard and even if they are not 100% on it, the ship is destroyed. HGV are even harder to intercept and close to intercept for current mainstream missiles. Saturation attack using HGV, ASBM, and classical anti ship missiles will be like asking 12 year old to sit an engineering exam and get >90%. It is agreed by all that currently no defences in missile side are able to. So the Americans are relying on NEMESIS and false target. Chinese leakers say they are familiar with American false target spoofing abilities and some commentators have said that current false target distinguishing has been tricky to counter but countered. Who knows I guess. Everyone can play in the electronic field and barrier of entry are relatively lower compared to mechanical capability of missiles world.

 

[K_Bin_W]

Who said US carriers cannot defend themselves, of course, they can absolutely can, against a 3rd world country that is, A country that cannot hit back.
See that was so easy....