USN looking at extending the life of the Nimitz class beyond 50 years

Ford Vs Nimitz

a reply to: pavil

I love the way they word some of the things in that. Such as:

The Nimitz Class is armed with 16–24 RIM-7 Sea Sparrows or NATO Sea Sparrow missiles, three to four Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems or RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles. The Ford Class will carry two Mk. 29 missile launchers, two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, and four Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems.

They try to make it sound like the Nimitz is better protected, when the opposite is true.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: pavil

I love the way they word some of the things in that. Such as:

The Nimitz Class is armed with 16–24 RIM-7 Sea Sparrows or NATO Sea Sparrow missiles, three to four Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems or RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles. The Ford Class will carry two Mk. 29 missile launchers, two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, and four Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems.

They try to make it sound like the Nimitz is better protected, when the opposite is true.

I know it's not a great comparison but at least it's something. I was surprised the Ford wasn't faster, must be a limit to how fast a big long ship can go.

a reply to: pavil

They're faster than that. The Navy considers ship top speeds to be second on their list of secrets behind the shape of their props.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: pavil

They're faster than that. The Navy considers ship top speeds to be second on their list of secrets behind the shape of their props.

Rumors are that the Enterprise was so overpowered with its 8 reactors (albeit each much smaller than the Nimitz class) the propulsion plant was capable of driving the ship to speeds that the hull could not handle.

a reply to: FredT

That wouldn't surprise me in the least.

a reply to: Zaphod58

It did seem like the Carriers got to South Korea faster than I expected when NK was doing their long range launches. I thought one came from the West Coast to SK.

I wonder what Goodies they have planned for the Ford's power output?

a reply to: donktheclown

Well yeah... Humans going extinct certainly would change things...

Posting stuff like this in the military forums is akin to actually having a tattoo artist ink STUPID on your forehead.

a reply to: FredT
Yeah, during our last EDSRA they were talking about the effects of hull and keel torsion. It was mitigated a lot when they took the speed screws off though. Still faster than Nimitz classes, but not by as much.

I will say that it would not be very difficult at all to extend carrier life out past 50 years. With new core designs and some of the processes changing, they could probably go for around 60-70 with a better maintenance interval. I’m a nuke that’s been on both the enterprise and a Nimitz class, so this stuff is in my wheelhouse.

a reply to: truttseeker

Thanks for your service! Yeah I think this would strictly be a 10-20 year max extension to keep numbers up until the can produce the Ford class in enough numbers

originally posted by: donktheclown
a reply to: tadaman

What we really need is a game changer called "Peace."

Where is the money in that for the MIC? Most of our compensation structures are all out of whack and designed to reward chaos not peace.

Having said that Carriers are pretty important in the grand scheme of things involving wars in far reaching regions.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: FredT

Just a word to the wise...

Nothing involving engineering actually takes four years. It takes four years if you under fund the project, refusing to have people working round the clock in their thousands on every project to be completed, but if it were correctly funded, there is no task that could not be completed much faster.

You have to take into consideration 'lessons learned' obsolescence and specification upgrades.

Wiring in ships and subs has come on leaps and bounds to reduce fire and toxic fumes, technology is now CAT5 compared to copper. Not to mention all the things you need to re-engineer to retrofit one that wasnt designed to fit in the latest carriers.

I dont remember the actual number of parts in a carrier but look at the fiasco Nimrod became when you tried to upgrade an old design.

well the enterprise had Kirks team on board once so I imange they added a diolthium crystal or two to the reactor .
Matter of fact I know they were exchange high energy partials with the reactor .

well the enterprise had Kirks team on board once so I imange they added a diolthium crystal or two to the reactor .
Matter of fact I know they were exchange high energy partials with the reactor .

They actually do a massive amount of upgrading whenever a ship goes into DPIA or RCOH. It’s actually really impressive. I will say at this time we’re probably getting pretty close to the limit with what we can do with Nimitz classes. Once everything gets ironed out with the ford classes I think they’ll be insane, there are just a lot of growing pains to go through. The propulsion plant is SUPER cool though. Like it’s insane comparatively.