An aircraft carrier is a ship or naval vessel from which aircraft can take off and land.Or in short, it is a mobile airport floating in the sea,which you can also call a mobile airbase.
aircraft carrier
And how big are the planes landing on their tiny runways?We will learn all this in this article.If a country has an aircraft carrier, it is considered very powerful.It can attack any country thousands of kilometers away within minutesAn aircraft carrier is a ship or naval vessel from which aircraft can take off and land.Or in short, it is a mobile airport floating in the sea,which you can also call a mobile airbase.
The earliest history of air operations from a ship dates back to the early years of the 19th centurywhen the British Royal Navythey dropped propaganda pamphlets from their ships over French territories with kites attached.Then, in 1849, the Austrian navy attempted to tie a bomb to hot-air balloons and drop it on the city of Venice,but they failed in their experienceDue to the wind blowing in the opposite direction, the balloons returned and landed on their own ships.The career of airplanes really began in the 20th century with the invention of the airplane.When the aircraft was tested for use by the Navy,
In 1910, the American pilot Ely first flew an airplane from the deck, i.e. the runway, on the light cruiser USS Birmingham.but Ely landed on the groundThen, in 1911, Ely also landed his airplane for the first time on another battleship and took off from there.After these successful experiments on the naval power of various countries,he started working on it considering the significance of the aircraft carrier and its possible use in the coming era.The British Navy developed the first aircraft carrier, HMS Argus, at the end of the First World War
This early aircraft carrier was built by converting a ship.The length of its deck, i.e. the runway, was 170 meters and had the capacity to accommodate 20 aircraft.It could not be used in war because the First World War ended before its regular use.After World War I, Japan and the United States began rapidly developing carriers.In March 1922, the US added its first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, to its fleet.At the end of the same year, Japan also developed and commissioned its first Hosho aircraft carrier.
Aircraft carriers came into regular use during World War II.As Japan gained control over the countries of Southeast Asia, its ambitions were hampered by the United States,
The US Navy constantly monitored Japan from the Pearl Harbor base in the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.In this situation, Japan decided to teach America a lesson first.Since Japan is about 4,000 miles away from Hawaii, it was impossible to launch an air attack from such a distance.Therefore, the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy decided to attack the Pearl Harbor naval base using aircraft carriers.After the final decision to attack, the Japanese fleet camped about 230 miles north of Pearl Harbor.
At that time, the Japanese fleet was loaded with 4 hundred fighter aircraft on 6 carriers.On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise carrier-based air attack on an American naval base.According to Japanese intelligence reports, three US Navy ships were in Pearl Harbor at the timeAnd their original goal was carriers to weaken the US Navy.
Japan could not succeed in this goal because it was fortunately not present at Pearl Harbor that dayRather, they were sent on another missionWell, after this event, America also jumped into the world war, and what happened after that is part of historyThen, in the Battle of Midway in the Pacific Ocean, Japan suffered the loss of 4 of its carriers by the US.
The American career was also destroyed in this warA total of 12 aircraft carriers were destroyed during World War IIIf you want to see a detailed video of the action at Pearl Harbor, you can click on the link on the screen.The first aircraft carriers used oil as fuel,but after World War II, the United States developed the first nuclear-powered aircraft.Currently, all aircraft in the US fleet is nuclear-powered.
There were some changes in the basic design of the post-war aircraft carrier.the initial flight deck was changed from perfectly straight to now slightly curvedso as to distinguish the landing area from the take-off areaThis was done in order to be able to take off and land at the same timeAn optical landing system was then added to the aircraft carrierwhich helped the pilot to land the aircraft and tell the pilot if his approach is correct or not.
An aircraft carrier is the most significant and most valuable asset of any fleet,so he never sails alone at sea whenever he is sent on a mission.Rather, it is surrounded by supply ships, battleships, cruisers, and submarines.The entire formation is called a Carrier Battle Group.Its purpose is to track the enemy and provide support to aircraft carriers.
You might be thinking that an airplane needs a long runway to take off and land on the ground
How then is it possible to fly a plane from the carrier’s runway, which is only 100 meters long?There are two mechanisms for taking off or flying an aircraft from a modern aircraft carrierSome aircraft carriers have a completely flat front,and a system called a catapult for launching fighters is installed in the front.The moving part of the catapult is above deck, while the rest of the machinery is hidden below deck.An aircraft that is about to take off in the air will move to the location of this catapult.When the front wheel of the aircraft is well fixed in the lock of this catapult,
he pulls the plane onto the runway at full power to the end of the deck and jumps into the air.In this way, the aircraft will gain the speed it needs to take off from the ground in a short time,and so it rises into the air.On some aircraft carriers, the front of the deck is raised to allow aircraft to take off.Its trajectory is slightly vertical rather than perfectly straightThis height is also called a diving boardWhen the plane leaves the deck, it doesn’t fly straight ahead, but the plane gets an upward thrust from the last part.Through which it reaches the height needed to climb into the air and stabilizes.In this method, the aircraft takes off entirely on its own engine power instead of using a catapult.
Talk about take-off done, now let’s see how the landing goes on this short runway
The technique used to land an aircraft on the short runway of an aircraft carrier is called Arrested Recovery.
in this technique on the initial part of the landing site on board the carrier
thick wires are placed parallel to each other at some distance from each other
When the plane is approaching land
the pilot must attach a hook under the tail of the aircraft to one of these arresting wires.
When this hook is fixed in one of the arresting lines, the arresting line reduces the ship’s speed to a very low speed.
The plane is therefore able to land even in a small space.
But if the pilot fails to fix the hook in the cable during landing, he flies back from the deck at full speed.
and approaches the landing again
Landing a high-speed aircraft on a floating aircraft carrier at sea is a challenging task
For this, it is very important that the pilot is skilled and fearless.
There are now modern airplanes that do not need a runway to take off and land,
but they can take off vertically and land as well
But these features are only found in a few specific aircraft or helicopters, the F-35 is notable among such aircraft.
You may be wondering what the capacity of aircraft on an aircraft carrier is.
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, has a capacity of 75 aircraft
and is 337 meters long.
It should also be noted that there are only a few aircraft on board the carrier at a time.
While the rest of the ships are bound down into the hangar by an elevator,
it is refueled and checked there
The USS Gerald Ford can hold 45 hundred people inside.
This includes aircrew, aircraft carrier crew, and support personnel.
The carriers have a lifespan of about 50 years.
and meanwhile, their refueling and overhaul are done only once after 20 years of life.
It takes three to five years
Most countries turn aircraft carriers into museums after they reach the end of their useful lives.
There are currently 5 such museums in the United States.
The US Navy sunk one of its own ships in 2006 to turn it into an artificial reef.
how valuable the carrier is to any navy
considered the most expensive aircraft carrier of all time, costing US$13 billion to build.
The United States currently has a total of eleven aircraft carriers and three more are in the process
In contrast, China has three careers.
China recently added a third carrier to its fleet, Fujian, which is completely built in China.
China often has strong reservations about the presence of the US fleet in the South China Sea.
In addition, it also wants to increase its influence in the region.
According to defense analysts, China will have seven aircraft carriers by the end of 2030.
unlike China, India also wants to increase the number of aircraft carriers in its fleet.
India recently launched a new aircraft carrier which is India’s second aircraft carrier in its fleet.
In addition, Britain and Italy have two aircraft carriers, while France and Russia have one each.
Several countries also have helicopter carriers
Let’s also examine whether airplanes are still effective or have become obsolete in today’s modern age.
the answer to that is “Yes”, to some extent
This is because the range and accuracy of modern missile systems have improved significantly these days
No country can bring an aircraft carrier close to an enemy country at sea to attack another country.
because that country may have missiles with a range to that point
So he will have to carry out his activity by staying at a certain distance
In this sense, the usefulness of the career has decreased to some extent.
Especially against countries with advanced missile technology,
Now a country doesn’t have to send a ship to attack another, but it can be attacked by missiles
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