Power Projection!

[xl_target]

A US carrier Task Force is one of the most powerful military units on earth. It can project power on a 1500 mile diameter circle around itself. Today, no one else is able to do Carrier operations like the US Navy.

Carrier Operations on the USS Harry S Truman.
Fly in on a C-2A Greyhound. Land on the carrier and get parking directions.
Watch a Hornet "Cat Shot" and then watch another Hornet landing.
These guys make it look like a walk in the park.
A Carrier landing is one of the most difficult thing that a pilot can do. A very select few get to do it.
An active carrier deck is supposed to be one of the most dangerous places to work.

http://vimeo.com/72660126
Watch it in HD, if you can. Amazing Grace!


Here it is from another angle. As you can see a Greyhound is a rather large twin engined aircraft.

[youtube][/youtube]

[Sakobav]

Xl

These are amazing ships and sailors /air men who man these. Personally I think air craft carriers are white elephants and very hard to protect especially against submarines and new missiles. Maybe US navy can with Aegis et al escorts protect their carrier forces but for India it makes sense to invest in Submarines , etc instead of air craft carriers.

Cheers

[brihacharan]

Always enjoyed watching air-crafts landing & taking off from flight decks
One thing that struck me in this clip is that after landing the air-craft usually come to a halt when the trailing hook catches on to the wire on the deck...which later is manually disengaged....
But here the air-craft takes almost a 90deg turn after landing without being unhooked - maybe an auto release or something
Thanks xl_target for sharing the video clip.
Briha

[fantumfan2003]

The power projection capability of aircraft carriers is well digested by the Indian Navy hence it is pursuing INS Vikramaditya and has atleast two ships planned for the Vikrant class aircraft carriers. With three seas/oceans to watch over and increased participation in global maritime affairs (Somali Pirates e.g.) India needs a minimum of two a/c. One each in two oceans and one in the docks undergoing refit or repairs. Actually four is better than three.

Submarines are part of the Carrier battle Group as they can have an offensive and defensive roles. Carriers were difficult to protect in WW2 era but it was not an impossible task. Post WW2, no navy has lost an a/c to enemy action. Taking out an a/c in todays world is an extremely difficult task as it is extremely well protected from air, surface, sea undersea threats.

Both carriers and subs are needed for the Indian navy.

End of Sermon

M.

Xl

These are amazing ships and sailors /air men who man these. Personally I think air craft carriers are white elephants and very hard to protect especially against submarines and new missiles. Maybe US navy can with Aegis et al escorts protect their carrier forces but for India it makes sense to invest in Submarines , etc instead of air craft carriers.

Cheers

[fantumfan2003]

The arrestor wire mechanism actually pulls the aircraft by applying proportional force to bring the aircraft to a safe halt in the deck of the carrier. You noticed the wire slackening ? that and the aircraft raising its tail hook is usually enough for the wire to unhook the arrestor wire from the tail hook. sometimes manual intervention is needed. You can see that in the French Naval Aviation videos on YT. Also it is standard practice to apply almost fullpower by the aircraft when it hits the deck. This is done because if the aircraft does not catch the hook, it has enough power to take to the air again (this is called a bolter in USN jargon). By the way in this video the Greyhound caught the third wire of the four on the USS TDR's deck. Which says that it was an almost perfect landing. All landings on an aircraft carrier are graded and the best rating is OK Three Wire. All pilots work hard for an OK Three Wire.

M.

Always enjoyed watching air-crafts landing & taking off from flight decks
One thing that struck me in this clip is that after landing the air-craft usually come to a halt when the trailing hook catches on to the wire on the deck...which later is manually disengaged....
But here the air-craft takes almost a 90deg turn after landing without being unhooked - maybe an auto release or something
Thanks xl_target for sharing the video clip.
Briha