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The Navy has estimated a worst-case cost overrun of as much as $1.1 billion for the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, the service's most expensive warship. The carrier is being built in Newport News by Huntington Ingalls Industries under a cost-plus, incentive-fee contract in which the Navy pays for most of the overruns. Even so, the service's efforts to control expenses may put the company's $579.2 million profit at risk, according to the Navy.

DENVER – DigitalGlobe Inc., a commercial satellite company, said Wednesday that it took a photograph of China’s first aircraft carrier during a sea trial in the Yellow Sea, off the Chinese coast.

US Government Urges American Citizens to Leave Syria as US Aircraft Carrier Approaches As the violent crackdown against Syrian dissidents continues, the US government is warning all American citizens in the country to leave immediately, according to CBS. Turkish citizens are also being warned to stay out of the country. The US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was pulled from that country last month. The U.S. embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available,” began a statement released Wednesday on the embassy website. “The number of airlines serving Syria has decreased significantly...

The US Navy's newest and mightiest nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS George H W Bush*, has been plagued by continual failures in its lavatories, according to reports. Sailors have been forced into increasingly desperate measures to relieve themselves. The Navy Times, following up initial stories of the problems appearing on blogs, quotes members of the 5,000-strong ship's complement as stating that at times there hasn't been a single working head – as lavs are known at sea – anywhere aboard the entire mighty hundred-thousand-ton warship. Reportedly the Bush is fitted with no less than 423 thrones, but it appears...

It may seem like a trivial inconvenience in the scheme of things, but it's become routine enough that some sailors aboard the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush say it's affecting their morale, their health and their job performance: Since the ship left for its maiden combat deployment in May, its toilet system has suffered outages so frequently that crew members sometimes can't find a single working commode. Over the weekend, the mother of one Bush sailor became so upset by her son's repeated reports of widespread toilet outages that she blasted a news release about it to reporters across...

The Russian Navy has reportedly agreed to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to expand the country’s influence in the world’s oceans. The decision though is yet to be approved by the president. Currently, Russia has only aircraft cruiser, Admiral Kuznetsov, which was launched back in 1985. For years it was debated as to whether the country needs more flattops or if having atomic subs and cruisers would be enough to face modern challenges. Finally, Russian admirals selected the so-called American model of the fleet: ship groups with an aircraft carrier in the center, writes Izvestia daily. The marine officers believe...

China's first aircraft carrier on Wednesday left its shipyard in the country's northeast to start its first sea trial, the state news agency Xinhua said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is building two aircraft carriers as part of a military modernization program that is causing concern among other Asian countries, sources said on Wednesday. President Hu Jintao has made the navy a keystone of China's defense upgrade, and the carriers will be among the most visible signs of its rising military prowess. ... "Two aircraft carriers are being built at the Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai," a source with ties to China's Communist Party leadership told Reuters, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the program. China's Defense Ministry has confirmed the existence of...

Our furnace has quit and a major decision has to be made. We have a gas (propane) furnace that has lasted 15 years. The outside cooling unit would still work IF the furnace fan system was working. The furnace people have recommended Carrier. They also carry Trane. Does anybody have recent experience with the duel system with gas and heat pump? This will be a major expense, more than 15,000.00 so anybody with knowledge to help guide me to the best decision of a bad deal would be appreciated.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today the next Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier will be named the USS John F. Kennedy. The selection John F. Kennedy, designated CVN 79, honors the 35th President of the United States and pays tribute to his service in the Navy, in the government, and to the nation. “President John F. Kennedy exemplified the meaning of service, not just to country, but service to all humanity,” said Mabus. “I am honored to have the opportunity to name the next aircraft carrier after this great sailor and inspirational leader, and to keep the rich...

This is very unnerving, landing with deck pitching 30 feet, at night, low on fuel. Incredible. You will never forget viewing this. I have seen a lot of aviation videos but the two videos below are undoubtedly the best. Turn on your sound. I guarantee this will definitely hold your attention.

Chinese Carrier Lacks Fighters May 5, 2011 By David Axe If China's navy wants to undertake real long-range operations, its new aircraft carrier will need a more diverse air wing. As noted by Douglas Paal here over the weekend, in recent weeks, the Chinese navy has taken big steps toward deploying its first aircraft carrier, underscoring the nation's rapid ascent as a world power. Twelve years after Beijing purchased the incomplete Russian aircraft carrier Varyag, the 60,000-ton vessel — renamed Shi Lang — is reportedly on track to begin sea trials this summer. Shi Lang's first planes are nearly ready,...

Spartans, UNC to play on an aircraft carrierBy Reporter, Deseret News Published: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 12:11 a.m. MDT SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Sports Commission has confirmed that Michigan State and North Carolina will play in the Carrier Classic on Veterans Day, the first NCAA basketball game to be played aboard an aircraft carrier. The commission, working with Morale Entertainment Foundation, says it has received written commitments from the two schools and that approval from the U.S. Navy is expected soon. Organizers haven't announced which aircraft carrier will host the Nov. 11 game.

The Pentagon was expected to announce that the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, which is sailing in the Pacific, passed through a radioactive cloud from stricken nuclear reactors in Japan, causing crew members on deck to receive a month’s worth of radiation in about an hour, government officials said Sunday.

The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal has been decommissioned at a ceremony in its home base of Portsmouth. The warship was scrapped after 25 years' service as part of the government's defence budget review. The move leaves the Navy without the capability of launching fixed-wing aircraft until replacements come into service at the end of the decade.

BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) - The aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan is scheduled for work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in January 2012. The Kitsap Sun says it will undergo maintenance similar to the yearlong $250 million job the shipyard began in December on the aircraft carrier Nimitz.

HMS Nightclub: Pride of the Fleet may become a Chinese disco By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 12:44 AM on 8th January 2011 Nearly 30 years ago she was at the heart of the Royal Navy task force that drove the Argentine army from the Falkland Islands. Harrier jets roared from the flight deck of HMS Invincible to wrest control of the skies from the invaders’ Mirage fighters. Soon, however, the vast hanger of the aircraft carrier that once echoed to the clatter of planes is being rearmed for their next sortie, may well be throbbing to the beat...

12/27/10 The U.S. will deploy another nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Northeast Asia in response to North Korea's threat of a "sacred war" using nuclear weapons, media reports said. The Ronald Reagan will bring to three the number of U.S. aircraft carrier fleets in the west Pacific, joining the George Washington in Japan and the Carl Vinson that just arrived in Guam. China's official Xinhua news agency said the new addition could raise tensions in the region, with the Chinese military already calling it the biggest threat to China and North Korea in six decades. Commissioned in 2003, the Ronald Reagan...

25 November 2010 The Korean crisis and US carrier diplomacy By Nick Childs Defence and security correspondent, BBC News The USS George Washington has experience in the waters off the Korean peninsula Indeed, the George Washington has already been deployed there this year, following the rise in tensions after the sinking in March of the South Korean warship Cheonan - widely blamed on the North. Then, as now, it was to send a series of messages - supposedly of reassurance to the South, and deterrence to the North. It is a move that the United States has made many times...

Carrier Enterprise turns 49 on Thanksgiving Day Credit: U.S. Navy The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise during sea trials earlier this year. by US Navy News 13NEWS / WVEC.com Posted on November 25, 2010 at 1:00 PM NORFOLK (NNS) -- The Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) is celebrating its 49th birthday on this Thanksgiving Day. The strike group is currently in port undergoing preparations for an upcoming deployment. During its commissioning, then Secretary of the Navy John B. Connally Jr. called the Big E a worthy successor to the seventh Enterprise, which was the most decorated ship in World...

(Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier group set off for Korean waters on Wednesday, a day after North Korea rained artillery shells on a South Korean island, in a move likely to enrage Pyongyang and unsettle its ally, China.....

/begin my translation S. Korea and U.S. to Do a Naval Excercise w/ U.S. Carrier Joining, Starting on 28th (in Yellow Sea) Kim Kwi-geun = S. Korea and U.S. will conduct joint (naval) exercise in Yellow Sea starting on Nov. 28th, U.S. Dept of Defense announced on Nov. 24 /end my translation

Following the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the government has confirmed it will build both Queen Elizabeth class carriers but the first will carry no planes and be removed from active service after three years once the second is completed. The second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, will be redesigned to enable it to take the conventional Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) planes currently being built by the US, rather than the more advanced and more expensive variant the previous government had planned to buy The first carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, will be completed in 2016 but will only carry helicopters...

Britain's aircraft carriers will be left without planes for a period because of cuts to the military budget in next week's spending review, Defence Secretary Liam Fox has confirmed. Two former heads of the Royal Navy have warned that a decision to withdraw Harrier jets before the arrival of new Joint Strike Fighter F35s in 2018 would leave Britain unable to fight another Falklands War. Dr Fox confirmed that there will be a "gap" between the phasing out of the Harriers and the US-built F35s coming into service, but insisted that this will not put the Falklands at risk. Britain...

The Royal Navy looks set to have two new carriers capable of supporting planes as well as helicopters, Ministry of Defence sources have confirmed. There had been speculation the second of the two carriers ordered by the Navy - the HMS Prince of Wales, due to enter service in 2018 - would be either be scrapped, downgraded, or moth-balled following the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). Originally conceived as a Queen Elizabeth class carrier capable of supporting the American-built F35 Joint Strike Fighter, it had been rumoured the MoD would alter its specifications to that of a helicopter carrier....

U.S. to send George Washington to Yellow Sea for future joint drills with S. Korea: Pentagon By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- The United States Thursday reaffirmed its pledge to send a super carrier to joint military exercises with South Korea in waters near China despite Beijing's objections. "The USS George Washington will indeed exercise in the Yellow Sea again," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. "We have said that will take place. I don't think we have determined a date yet, but rest assured, the George Washington will operate in the Yellow Sea, as it does in other...

China urges ROK, U.S. to treat its concern seriously English.news.cn 2010-08-07 01:51:00 BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua)-- China on Friday urged the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States to treat its concern and position seriously on the ROK-U.S. military drills in the Yellow Sea. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the remarks after the Pentagon said Thursday, according to media reports, that the U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington would take part in a series of ROK-U.S. joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea in the coming months. "We have repeatedly expressed our clear and firm stance on the...

MoD may sell carrier to fill huge hole in defence budget Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent Britain may be forced to sell one of its flagship new aircraft carriers to plug a huge hole in its defence budget. Talks are taking place at the Ministry of Defence about finding a buyer for one of the ships being built at a cost of £5.2 billion for the Royal Navy. The financial crisis at the MoD has deepened after Chancellor George Osborne rejected a bid by Defence Secretary Liam Fox to get the Treasury to pay for the renewal of the Trident nuclear...

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The official photos from a major Asian security forum in Hanoi this week will likely show Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi dutifully smiling and shaking hands. But behind the scenes of the meeting, an ominous new Chinese weapons system that the Pentagon worries could alter the balance of power in the Pacific is further complicating the tense Sino-American military dialogue.

U.S. Ships Could Move to East Sea for Joint Drill South Korea and the U.S. are mulling a joint maritime drill in both the East and West Seas this month after China lodged a protest against a huge U.S. military presence on its doorstep. The idea is to deploy some of the bigger American ships including an aircraft carrier to the east of the Korean Peninsula instead. A government source on Monday said there is "near-consensus" for turning the planned West Sea drill into an exercise in both the East and West Seas to reflect the positions of Beijing and...

Living Target JULY 07, 2010 11:19 Chinese Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, told a Hong Kong TV station Monday, “If a U.S. aircraft carrier enters the Yellow Sea, it will become a living target.” Unleashing hard-line comments, he said, “Just as we’d block a snoring person from approaching one’s bed, can we allow other people to perform a sword dance right in front of our door?,” adding, “China is not fish but a tiger lion.” The official Chinese daily Global Times also said that if the U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington...

India's first naval fighter squadron turns 50 TNN, Jul 5, 2010, 12.38am IST NEW DELHI: The `White Tigers' turn 50 this week. No, not the ones from Rewa but India's first-ever naval fighter squadron, which takes its name from the famous tigers with white fur instead of the usual orange due to a recessive gene. It was on July 7, 1960, that the INSAS 300 squadron was commissioned at the British Royal Naval air station in Brawdy, propelling India into the exclusive club of countries which flew fighters from aircraft carriers. The squadron, with its crest depicting the white tiger...

Color footage of carrier action in the Pacific. Thie is my daddy's generation in action, just a bunch of kids then. One of my uncles was flying off a carriers, he flew Corsairs.

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) successfully fired two Evolved NATO Sea Sparrow missiles and two Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) for the first time, to conclude its first Combat Systems Ship's Qualification Trials (CSSQT), June 23. CSSQT is part of the series of qualifications and certifications the aircraft carrier must undergo in preparation for her upcoming maiden deployment. According to Combat Systems Officer, Cmdr. John B. Vliet, CSSQT is a combined effort between the Combat Systems, Operations and Weapons departments to test the aircraft carrier's self-defense systems. "It's an end-to-end testing of the Combat Systems Suite, to include tactics, techniques,...

Keep U.S. Aircraft Carrier Out of Our Backyard, China Warns A state-run Chinese newspaper on Tuesday criticized the South Korean government for allowing the 97,000-ton aircraft carrier George Washington of the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet to join South Korea-U.S. military training scheduled late this month. In an editorial, Global News wrote the West Sea "is in proximity to China's political hub of Beijing and Tianjin. If a U.S. aircraft carrier comes into the West Sea, mainland China falls under the military strategic influence of U.S. military forces. The people of China will not accept South Korea having military demonstration involving...

Carrier casts a shadow over Northeast Asia * Source: Global Times * [02:56 June 08 2010] Recent media reports that the US aircraft carrier George Washington is being considered for participation in joint military exercises with South Korea on the Yellow Sea have generated alarm and antipathy among the Chinese public. There is no final confirmation from the Pentagon yet, though South Korean officials were trying to promote the idea Sunday. It is hard to tell if the idea is the South's alone, or if the US will try to test China with it. Either way, the decision should be...

Last month was the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). At the naval parade held to commemorate the event, in front of delegations from 29 countries, PLAN Commander General Wu Shengli declared that Beijing intended to build aircraft carriers, spurring widespread speculation over China’s blue-water ambitions. So what should we make of Beijing’s assertiveness and openness about its carrier plans? My advice: ignore it. Traditional measures of naval power fail to give an accurate picture of China’s maritime ambitions and capabilities. Beijing currently lacks the hardware and skills to keep a carrier at sea,...

debkafile's military sources report a decision by the Obama administration to boost US military strength in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf regions in the short term with an extra air and naval strike forces and 6,000 Marine and sea combatants. Carrier Strike Group 10, headed by the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, sails out of the US Navy base at Norfolk, Virginia Friday, May 21. On arrival, it will raise the number of US carriers off Iranian shores to two. Up until now, President Barack Obama kept just one aircraft carrier stationed off the coast of Iran, the USS...

On the bridge of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, there’s a 20-year-old quartermaster with a No. 2 pencil, a compass and a big map unfurled on a table. In one of the ironies of America’s modern Navy, that map and that quartermaster are the official method of navigation for the $4 billion carrier and the 5,000 souls on board. Even as the Navy installs the most high-tech equipment on its carriers — including the San Diego-based Carl Vinson, which recently returned to the fleet after a four-year overhaul — none of the nation’s 11 flattops is certified to rely on...

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) departed Naval Air Station North Island for sea trials May 18. The event marks the first time that Ronald Reagan has been underway since Oct. 21, 2009, when it completed its fourth deployment in four years. The three-time Battle "E" award-winning carrier is concluding a six-month planned incremental availability (PIA), a scheduled maintenance period designed to upgrade ship's systems and quality of life for its Sailors. Sea trials allow these systems to be tested and necessary quality checks to be performed. Upon successful completion of sea trials, Ronald Reagan's PIA will officially conclude and the...

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’s flagship deployment of 2010 is underway… with the nation’s flagship kicking it off. HMS Ark Royal departed Portsmouth on a glorious spring morning as the Auriga 2010 deployment to the Eastern Seaboard of North America began. When the exercise reaches its peak off Florida in July, it will see the carrier joined by HMS Ocean and Albion, plus American assault ship USS Kearsarge (a combination of Ark/Ocean, but twice the size…). The road to Florida begins in rather chillier climes, however. Ark’s first ‘stomping ground’ on the deployment is the west coast of Scotland and the regular Joint...

After laying hands on the record-breaking 61.5 mph speedboat, built for a British sporting adventurer, the Iranian navy plans to arm it with the reputedly fastest torpedo in the world, the Russian-designed Shkval (Squall), which moves at speeds of 360 kph. debkafile's military sources report Tehran is aiming for a seaborne weapon able to sink a US carrier in the Persian Gulf. Blogs tracking the international weapons trade and the Financial Times reported Monday, April 5, that after purchasing the Bladerunner 51 powerboat from a Florida boatyard in 2005, the British sailor Neil McGrigor smashed the Italian-held record for the...

/begin my summary China to Deploy its First Carrier in 2012 Hong Kong = Lee Hang-su America's Admiral Willard Report (to Congress) China completed remodeling a carrier purchased from a former Soviet country. "China would deploy its first aircraft carrier in 2012 and launch its first domestically manufactured carrier in 2015," report by Admiral Willard, Commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet to Congressional Armed Service Committee. Dalian Daily in Liaoning Province reported that Varjag's remodeling was recently completed at Dalian Shipyard and it is moved out of drydock and now in the water before the shipyard South China Morning Post reported,...

www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=4gGMI8d3vLs For part II Night Ops: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=4gGMI8d3vLs

Kong Wednesday amid heightened tension between Washington and Beijing over arms sales to Taiwan and President Barack Obama's plan to meet the Dalai Lama. The stop by the USS Nimitz, one of the world's largest warships, came just weeks after China said it would suspend military and security contacts with the United States over Washington's 6.4-billion-dollar arms package for Taipei. It also coincided with a trip to Washington by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama for a long-awaited meeting with Obama, a visit that has infuriated Beijing which has denounced him as a separatist bent on independence for his...

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...

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....

<p>WAUKGAN -- A historic World War II F6F-3 Hellcat fighter plane was raised from Lake Michigan on Monday and was greeted by the CEO who financed the operation, the grandson of the pilot and the son of the man who built the airplane to challenge Japanese Zeros.</p>

The British warship that India wants: quantum leap on the high seas November 16th, 2009 Dipankar De Sarkar London, Nov 16 (IANS) A futuristic aircraft carrier that India is reported to be keen on buying from Britain is envisaged as a giant guardian of the high seas, capable of travelling thousands of kilometres from home and wreaking massive destruction on enemy targets, experts said Monday. India has reportedly “lodged a firm expression of interest” in buying one of two huge aircraft carriers that are currently under construction - the largest warships ever built by Britain, and designed to be the...