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After a laborious two-year overhaul beset by delays, cost overruns and unforeseen problems, Navy officials said Monday that the military's oldest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is once again ready for war. The 49-year-old Enterprise, which has been docked at Northrop Grumman's Newport News shipyard since April 2008, was originally slated to return to service six months ago. That plan changed after repair crews discovered damage and decay - from rotted pipes to fried electronics - far beyond what they'd anticipated. As the list of repairs grew, so did costs, to nearly $700 million from an initial estimate of $450 million. That's...

The Navy faces an operational “tipping point” where the demand for overseas presence will far exceed the number of ships, according to the influential Center for Naval Analyses. CNA’s new report, “The Navy at a Tipping Point: Maritime Dominance at Stake?”, which was provided to DOD Buzz, is being used by the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations to evaluate future force plans. It says that despite a 20 percent decrease in the size of the total battle fleet over the past 10 years, the number of ships deployed, around 100 at any given time, has remained constant. The...

Now that the Department of Defense has made clear its intent to move a Norfolk-based aircraft carrier to Mayport, Fla., the battle between Florida and Virginia shifts to Congress. Members of the Hampton Roads congressional delegation have pledged to fight tooth and nail to block any more money for the project. They’re taking on Florida’s congressional delegation, who outnumber the Virginians by more than two to one and are already claiming victory. Hampton Roads representatives said they are not ready to talk about what might happen if the carrier battle is lost. “We have to continue to have a united...

Sailors assigned to aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) won the Battle Efficiency Ribbon, or Battle "E" Award, Feb. 10. Vice Adm. Thomas Kilcline, commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF), awarded the Battle "E" Award to two carriers, one in the Atlantic Fleet and one in the Pacific. The award is a tribute to the superior battle readiness of the aircraft carrier that receives it. "To say that I'm impressed and incredibly pleased is an understatement." said Capt. Ken Norton, Ronald Reagan's commanding officer. "This is yet another testament to a very impressive crew. " Since 2006, Ronald Reagan's first...

The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk is not up for sale to the Indian Navy as it has already “outstretched” its life, a senior US Navy officer said Wednesday. "The ship was meant to last 48 years. It is in Wilmington (North Carolina) and not for sale. There is no intention to sell it. It has already outstretched its intended service life," Rear Admiral Allen G. Myers, the Director (Warfare Integration) of the US Navy, told IANS. This puts to rest all reports of the decommissioned carrier being offered to India, which, at one stage, expressed interest in the vessel....

The U.S. Navy has sped up its efforts to ready its X-47B UCAS (Unmanned Combat Aerial System), for carrier operations. This includes an additional $2 billion for development, in an attempt to have the X-47B demonstrating the ability to regularly operate from a carrier, and perform combat (including reconnaissance and surveillance) operations, within five years. Senior admirals see this as a way to solve several problems. One is the dominance of the U.S. Air Force in UAV operations (with their fleet of Predator, Reaper and Global Hawk UAVs). Then there is the growing cost of the new F-35, that is...

The Navy is willing to make trade-offs to pay for its strategic decision to move a nuclear aircraft carrier to Florida, according Rear Adm. Bill Burke, who ran the Navy’s portion of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). Burke told reporters this week that the QDR, a sweeping review of military strategy and capability, reached the same decision the Navy reached a year ago, because it makes “good sense.” It also made “good sense” at the highest levels of the Pentagon, Burke added. To pay for the move, the Navy could have to make some tough financial decisions down the line....

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) departed Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., for sea trials Jan. 27 after a seven-month maintenance period. During Sea Trials, the ship's electronics, communication, navigation and other combat systems that were built or modified in the shipyard will be tested. In addition, an inspection of the ship's catapults and jet blast deflectors will be conducted, as well as inspections of the ship's berthing spaces, demonstrations of search and rescue equipment firefighting capabilities, and an evaluation of food service facilities to determine the ship's overall mission readiness. Bush's sea trials comes after...

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) arrived off the coast of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti Jan. 15 to commence humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. Carl Vinson received orders from U.S. Southern Command to deliver assistance to the Caribbean nation following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake which caused catastrophic damage within the capital city Jan. 12. The aircraft carrier's speed, flexibility and sustainability make it an ideal platform to carry out relief operations. "Our initial focus is to concentrate on saving lives while providing first responder support to the people of Haiti. Our assistance here reflects our nation's compassion and...

<p>Taiwan said Wednesday that its giant neighbour China has started building its first aircraft carrier, a move analysts have said could raise military tensions in the region. The head of Taiwan's National Security Bureau told parliament construction of the carrier had begun, Lin Yu-fang, a legislator of the ruling Kuomintang party, told AFP.</p>

While Russian admirals have been talking about building six aircraft carriers in the next decade, the president of Russia has recently ordered them to concentrate on smaller ships for the Black and Baltic Seas. The Black Sea fleet has been continually declining since the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. That decline is the result of new countries (like Ukraine and Georgia) inheriting old Soviet ships and bases. That was the dissolution deal. Whatever Soviet weapons or bases were normally were, belonged to one of the 14 new nations. Most of Russia’s high seas ships were based in northern Russia (the...

It’s time to return some sanity to the way ships are named.  Why?  Because the silliness is upon us once again:111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 83Expressing the sense of Congress that a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Navy, either the aircraft carrier designated as CVN-79 or the aircraft carrier designated as CVN-80, should be named the U.S.S. Barry M. Goldwater.Bill information and status here  The nonsense began with CVN-70  and reached the height of historical blindness with the Truman (honestly, naming a carrier for a president who tried his hardest to kill naval aviation and oversaw the death...

The Navy’s newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George H. W. Bush will be commissioned Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, during an 11 a.m. EST ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. President George W. Bush will deliver the principal address. Dorothy “Doro” Bush Koch, daughter of the ship’s namesake, is the ship’s sponsor. In the time-honored Navy tradition, she will give the order to "man our ship and bring her to life!" The lastNimitz-class aircraft carrier is named to honor World War II naval aviator and America’s 41st president George H. W. Bush. Born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Mass., Bush began...

ABOARD USS JOHN C. STENNIS, March 6, 2007 – Navy, Marine Corps and Army personnel are working side by side aboard the USS John C. Stennis Strike Group supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The Stennis Strike Group is afloat in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility, which encompasses about 7.5 million square miles and includes the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean. “This is the epitome of a joint operation,” said Navy Rear Adm. Kevin Quinn, commander of Carrier Strike Group 3. “Our primary mission is to conduct air operations in...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2007 – With flags around the nation still at half staff in memory of the late President Gerald R. Ford, Vice President Richard B. Cheney called today’s naming of the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier in Ford’s honor an even more fitting tribute because it looks to the future. Speaking today at the Pentagon naming ceremony for the ship, Cheney joined Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter and other officials and servicemembers in naming the first of the new CVN-21 class of aircraft carrier the USS Gerald R. Ford. The new class will replace the USS Enterprise and...

ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (NNS) -- The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG), along with Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Maritime Security Operations (MSO) for more than two months, and continues to make a positive impact on the Gulf region. Since departing Naval Station Norfolk, Va., Sept 1., the nearly 7,500 Sailors who make up TRCSG and CVW-8, have used teamwork to successfully support Iraqi oil platform security; Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations; and provide support to coalition troops in Iraq. “I am extremely...

The latest aircraft carrier to join the US Navy is the USS Ronald Reagan -- CVN 76. But is with the passing of the Gipper, and what that great American stood for, what might be a future slogan be for this great ship. I think Ronnie would like it to be referred to as the Spirit of 76. And what American of the 20th Century more embodied the spirit this country was founded on -- the spirit of 1776 or the the spirit of the American Independence. That spirit is embodied in our Declaration of Independence -- without a doubt...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy accepted delivery of the newest aircraft carrier, PCU Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), June 20. The ship design and construction was executed under a contract awarded to Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN) in December 1994. Reagan’s first deployment is scheduled for 2005 from her San Diego homeport, which is home to two other U.S. aircraft carriers. Reagan is the ninth of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Expected to be in service for 50 years, Reagan will carry out our nation’s tasking in both peacetime and in times of crisis. Its nuclear propulsion plant will power the ship...