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 mmm
(^\M Aircraft carriers have always been
a key tool in enforcing US foreign
policy. Today, as a crucial element in
the ongoing war against terror, they
are more important than ever before.

Contents
2 Early Carriers 14 Wing
Carrier Air
4 Carriers of WWII 16 FlightDeck Crew
6 The Jet Challenge 18 Today and Tomorrow
8 Back to War 20 The Carrier Quiz
10 Supercarriers 24 World Carriers
12 Defending the Carrier
EARLY CARRIERS
The US Navy was a pioneer in carrier operations, developing the
technology of its ships and aircraft as well as the tactics for their
successful employment during the years between the great wars.

Early in 1911, Eugene Ely landed

his Curtiss pusher biplane on the
USS Pennsylvania, later taking off

from the same ship. He had proved

the practicality of ship-borne aircraft
operations, but the US Navy thought
little of their use until World War I

was in full swing. In Europe, Britain

The Aeromarine 3B trainer catches
the longitudinal wires strung along
Langley's deck.
Aircraft at Sea
Early aircraft could simply take off
into the wind from a carrier's deck.
However, the USS Langley was later
fitted with a pair of pneumatic catapults
for launching floatplanes, and these
were adapted to launch landplanes.
With this addition, heavier aircraft
could be safely launched.
In order to stop a landing aircraft,
made effective use of seaplane
tenders and, later, ships equipped
with taking-off platforms for
landplanes. American sailors serving
alongside the Royal Navy in the
closing stages of the war saw just
Eugene Ely lands a Curtiss pusher on
a platform over the stern of the USS
Pennsylvania (CA-4) moored in San
Francisco Bay on January 18, 1911. Ely
ate lunch on board the ship and then
took off to a nearby airfield.

the British developed arrester gear.

Longitudinal wires on the deck
engaged hooks on the aircraft's
undercarriage to guide and slow it
down. The US Navy added transverse
wires, engaged by a hook trailed from
the aircraft; the foundations of the
modern arrester system were laid.
how effective these aircraft could
be. So the US Navy's involvement
with carrier aviation began.

The Way Forward

Soon the collier USS Jupiter w2iS
being converted into the USS
Langley, the US Navy's first aircraft

carrier, designation CV-1. Langley

was something of a compromise, but
proved to be a useful learning tool.

It showed the technology that was

needed for successful carrier flying
and prepared the Navy for its first

truly effective carriers, the USS

Lexington and USS Saratoga.

The US Navy's two Lexington-class units

were based on incomplete battlecruiser
hulls. But though they were very useful
warships, there was no relation between
aircraft strength and displacement.

'Tssss^ffi

Name: USS Langley, CV-1

Commissioned: March 20, 1922
Machinery: General Electric turbo-electric
two shafts
drive, three boilers,
At anchor in 1923 with an
Displacement: 12,700 tons
Aeromarine biplane landing
Length: 542 feet
on its deck, the USS Langley
Speed: 14 knots (16 miles per hour) was the first American aircraft
Typical number commissioned in
carrier,
of aircraft: 34 March 1922 after conversion
Crew: 350 from a collier. Langley carried
up to 36 aircraft
 Carriers of
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US fought a running battle
WWII
in the Pacific. Its carriers were heavily involved and the Battle
of the Coral Sea heralded a new era in warfare.

USS Lexington and USS

were put good to
Saratoga
use in the years
between the wars, developing carrier
aviation and the tactics for its use.

Carrier design also evolved, from the

Ranger, which turned out to be too
small, to the USS Yorktown. The
latter proved far more successful and

On May 11, 1945, the USS Bunker Hill

was hit by two kamikazes. Despite severe
damage and hundreds of casualties it
managed to return safely to the US.

The Battle of the Coral Sea: 1942

report Japanese carrier

striking force
-^Moseby SOLOMON (Zuikaka, Shokaku)
NEW invasion group
ISLANDS
GUINEA r-^
^'^nvei^ing group
Support group {Shoho anil-cruisers)

Coral Sea ^^

For the first^

"""^
time,major
naval powers
confronted each
other without
ships making
visual contact.
US intelligence
cracked the
Japanese codes
so the US Navy
knew every move
their enemy was
about to make. The
Japanese could
only retreat.
Lexington

12:00, May 7
AUSTRALIA Sims sunk, Neosho damaged
 Carriers Up Close: USS Essex USS Essex in
May 1943. The 15
Essex-class fast
Name: USS Essex, CV-9
aircraft carriers
Commissioned: December 1942
31,
were among ttie
Machinery: Westinghouse geared turbines, most successful
eight boilers, four shafts ever built and a
Displacement: 34,880 tons number of them
Length: 872 feet served into the
Speed: 32.7 knots (37.65 miles per hour) jet age.
Typical number of aircraft: 91
Crew: 2,682

formed the basis for the

war-winning Essex class.

Fighting Back
Clever tactics and good
carriers allowed the US to
take the war back to the
Japanese after the blow of
Pearl Harbor. Lexington
sank during the first major
engagement, the Battle of
the Coral Sea, but by the
time the key battles in the
Philippine Sea and Leyte
Gulf were fought, the USS Langley and USS TIconderoga enter
Essex-class carriers were in the anchorage at Ulithi Atoll. By this time,
in December 1944, the might of the Pacific
service and the Japanese were
Fleet had obliterated most of the Imperial
resorting to kamikaze attacks. Japanese Navy.
The Tet Challenge
Jet-powered aircraft were faster and more capable than their
piston-engined forebears, but required new technology including
the steam catapultfor safe carrier operations.

On March
began
10, 1948, the
its first jet
US Navy
operations, off
)F the USS Boxer. Although these
tests used the disappointing North
American FJ-1 Fury, they began to
show the new challenges presented
by the carrier-borne jet. The jets were
faster than the piston-engined aircraft
that preceded them, they were heavier
and they required huge amounts of
fuel for their thirsty engines.

Steam Catapults
Until then, the pneumatic and

A McDonnell FH-1 Phantom launches from hydrauhc catapults, directly descended

one of yJSS Salpan's two catapults. Note from those of USS Langiey, had been
the strap that attached the Phantom , j .

to the catapult shuttle is falling away

,

adequate, but a new device was

beneath the fighter. needed to launch the jets.

Introducing the Angled Deck

World War saw a huge increase in the
II
weight and performance of all combat
aircraft. These larger aircraft had higher
landing speeds and drove forward a
range of improvements to carriers.
By widening the carrier and developing
the "angled deck," simultaneous landings
and recoveries could be made.

Aircraft landing area

Aircraft take-off area

;r^v,r
The Catapult System
The steam catapult was designed by British naval engineers and subsequently adopted
and adapted by the US Navy. Some are connected to the shuttle by a strap
aircraft
that connects to two points on their underside, but all current US Navy types have
a launching bar attached to their nosewheel legs.

1. A launching baron 3. A holdback restrains the aircraft 5. At the limit of the

the aircraft's nosewheel while its engines are run up to take- shuttle's travel the
leg is locked into a off power. aircraft is released,
shuttle that runs along while the pistons are
a slot in the deck. This slowed by water brakes.
is connected to two
parallel pistons below
the deck.

4. At the moment of launch,

2. Steam enters a the holdback breaks and the
STEAM tank at the aft end pressurized steam enters the
of the pistons and cylinders, driving the shuttle
pressure builds. along the deck.

The steam catapult derived power its decks and new landing systems were
directly from the and
ship's boilers introduced.Some Essex-class ships
was such a powerful mechanism were upgraded and a new generation
that it could even launch an aircraft of carriers was launched with the first

from a ship at anchor. Angled flight of the Forrestal class.

BACK TO WAR
Having employed its postwar carrier fleet off Korea from 1950
1960s the US Navy took its carrier air wings
to 1953, in the
back into combat off the coast of North Vietnam.

Anew breed of
carrier based on
the Forrestal class joined
the fleet in 1961 and
these ships, Kitty Hawk,
Constellation, America
and John F. Kennedy,
were soon in service off

the coast of Vietnam

as the US became
embroiled in bitter

conflict. More than any

other postwar action,
Vietnam proved the
US Nav\^'s concept oi The piston-engined A-1 Skyraider was ideally suited to
carrier-borne air power, attack missions over North Vietnam. It flew mainly from
the Navy's smaller carriers.
but it also caused a
revolution in aircraft-carrier design. the range offered by its nuclear
powerplant. From late 1965 the ship
Proof of Power took its turn on Yankee Station flying
In 1963 the US Navy took the brand its aircraft against targets in North
new USS Enterprise on an around-the- Vietnam and there its endurance
world cruise, graphical [\ illustratmj was proved even more decisively.

Carriers Up Close: USS Enterprise

Name: USS Enterprise, CVN-65
Commissioned: November 25, 1961
Machinery: Four Westinghouse
geared turbines, eight
Westinghouse A2W
reactors, four shafts
Displacement (maximum): 89,600 tons
Length: 1 ,123 feet Enterprise was the world's
Speed: 35 knots (40 miles per hour) fj^^f nuclear-powered carrier.
Typical number of aircraft: 99 It should remain in service
Crew: 5,500 until 2013-14.
 Combat Cruises Off Vietnam
The US committed massive resources to the war in
Vietnam and maintained a continuous aircraft-carrier
presence off North Vietnam from 1 964 to 1 975.

Number Of Time
Class Ship name
Cruises Period

Essex Intrepid, CVS-11 3 1966-69

Ticonderoga, CVA-14 5 1964-69

Hancock, CVA-19 9 1964-75

Bon Homme Richard, CVA-31 6 1964-70

Orisl<any, CVA-34 8 1965-74

Stiangri-La, CVS-38 1 1970

Midway Midway, CVA-41 5 1965-75

Franklin D. Roosevelt, CVA-42 1 1966-67

Coral Sea, CVA-43 8 1965-75

Forrestal Forrestal, CVA-59 1 1967

Saratoga, CVA-59 1 1972-73

Ranger, CVA-61 8 1 964-74

Independence, CVA-62 1 1965

Kitty Hawk Kitty Hawk, CVA-63 7 1965-74

Constellation, CVA-64 8 1964-74

America, CVA-66 3 1968-73

Enterprise Enterprise, CVN-65 8 1965-75

SUPERCARRIERS
With the first of its Nimitz-class supercarriers, the US Navy had the
most powerful warship the world had ever known.

the immediate years after the

InVietnam war, the US Navy had
used some of its Essex-class ships as
dedicated anti-submarine warfare
(ASW) carriers. However, with the
arrival of more capable craft
it began

working up the concept of including

ASW aircraft in the air wing of a
standard attack carrier. When the first

of the supercarriers, the USS Nimitz,

was constructed, this concept became
a reality.

Powerful Defense
Now the air wing could perform
every function, protecting its carrier
from subsurface, surface and airborne
attack, controlling the battle,
disrupting enemy communications
and radar systems and reaching out to
These VFA-22 F/A-18E Super Hornets strike distant sea and land targets.
were arranged on USS Ronald
In fact, the Nimitz-class ships carry
Reagan's deck.
an air wing larger in size and far more
No More F-14s capable than some of the world's
A radical change affected all the US smaller air forces.
Navy's carrier air wings. For many
years F-1 4 Tomcats were synonymous
with carrier flying, but they have now
been replaced by F/A-18E Super
Hornets. These bring huge savings in
terms of maintenance and a massive
increase in capability. As one old hand
remarked: "On deck... nothing looks
better than a Tomcat. It always looked
like it was ready to go out and kill
someone, but if you really need to get USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was the second
the job done, send a Super Hornet." Nimitz-class ship. It has taken part in
operations off Iraq and Haiti.

10
USS Nimitz was commissioned in 1975. Its
air wing
fias flown in excess of 6,500 missions
in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Name: USS Nimitz, CVN-68

Commissioned: May 3, 1975
Machinery: General Electric turbines, two Westinghouse
A4W reactors, four shafts
Displacement: 93,400 tons
Length: 1 ,092 feet
Speed: 33 knots (38 miles per hour)
Typical number of aircraft: 89
Crew: 6,400

Tlie USS
Nimitz's 2001/02
refit included
the addition
ofVFA-14
"Tophatters"
and its F/A-18E
Super Hornets
to its air wing.
Carrier aircraft
usually carry
their parent
ship's name
above the Navy
titling on their
rear fuselage.

11
Defending the Carrier
Supremely capable, the supercarrier makes for a primary target
and therefore relies on sophisticated, layered defenses provided
by its weapons and aircraft and those of its escorting ships.

Supercarriers sail as the lead ship in Against airborne threats the carrier
a carrier strike group, which varies is equipped with 58-mile-range Sea
according to task, but at the very least Sparrow missiles and the Phalanx
includes a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, system, which can fire against close-
an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, a range threats. Phalanx is also common
Los Angeles-class attack submarine to the carrier's support ships. If a

and a Supply-class replenishment ship. small craft, such as a patrol boat,

The Ticonderoga- and Arleigh Burke- gets within striking distance

class ships have advanced anti-aircraft of the carrier, it will be dealt

missile defenses, which can reach out with by gunfire from the
to 230 miles from the ship. carrier or its escort ships.

Range of Fire
To defeat submarine threats, both Key
ships have 10,000-yard-range OASROC engagement
zone, 5.7-mile radius
anti-submarine missiles in addition
to their ASW helicopters. OSea Sparrow engagement
zone, 58-mile radius

Ship- and
. . Submarine torpedo range,
Submarine-Based Defenses *.* 24-mile radius

Phalanx engagement zone,

O 5.7-mile radius

Standard engagement
O zone, 230-mile radius

Arleigh
Burke class

12
 Air Defense System Key
This diagram illustrates how air defenses
OF/A-18E/F radar range,
can be put up by a carrier and just two of 100-mile radius
its escorts. The ranges noted here are all

approximate, but represent best guesses OE-2C radar range,

280-mile radius
where data is classified. Also, the diagram
includes just one E-2C when a carrier could
launch three or four, so that the edges of
their radar coverage overlap. (The Sea
O Standard engagement
envelope, 230-mile radius
:,*
Sparrow and Phalanx defenses
escorts are omitted for clarity.)
of the
OSea Sparrow engagement
envelope, 50-mile radius

O Phalanx engagement zone,

5.7-mile radius

Super Hornet CAP

race track

Limit of Super Hornet deck-

launched intercept range
f^'

The carrier strike group forms a poweri

fighting unit able to maintain a complex
layered defense around the carrier.

13
Carrier Air Wing
A new mix of advanced aircraft types and precision weapons
is taking the carrier air wing into the future as a leaner, more
efficient and more effective unit.

Launching aircraft such as this JDAM-armed F/A-18E allows US carriers to strike with an
accuracy of 43 feet across ranges of several hundred miles. This VFA-115 "Eagles" Super
Hornet is performing a "touch-and-go" on USS Abraham Lincoln.

Atypical carrier air wing can take Hornet form, or as the F/A-18C
on multiple roles thanks to its (single-seat) or D (two-seat) Hornet.
mix of F/A-18s, EA-6B Prowlers, The Super Hornet offers a quantum
S-3B Vikings, E-2C Hawkeyes and leap in capability over the "Legacy
various helicopters. Hornet," with greater range and
The F/A-18 is used in F/A-18E more effective systems. It has
(single-seat) or F (two-seat) Super replaced the Tomcat as the fleet's

primary air defense fighter.

Jamming
US forces rely on the Navy's EA-6Bs
to jam enemy air defenses and mask
the movements of US strike aircraft.

With major upgrades ongoing, the

E-2C Haw key e remains the US Navy's
primary airborne early warning and control
asset. This VAW-115 "Liberty Bells" aircraft
was operating aboard USS Kitty Hawk

14
The US Navy and Marine Corps have responsibility for all US jamming needs. This
VAQ-137 "Rooks" EA-6B Prowler jamming aircraft was photographed over the Arabian
Sea during Enduring Freedom operations from USS Theodore Roosevelt

The EA-6B is usually flown unarmed, radar to search for enemy aircraft and
representing an asset that is too high controls the air wing's own forces.
in value to risk in a "shooting war." Every carrier sails with helicopters
for the plane guard mission. Typically
Hawkeyes an SH-60F Ocean Hawk works
Once an important ASW type, the around the carrier, ready to pick
Viking was re-equipped as a multi- up any flight crews unlucky enough
role guidance, surveillance and tanker to end up in the sea.
platform. In 2006, however, it is in Time is limited for both the F/A-18C and the
the process of being phased out. USS Kitty Hawk, from which this example
is flying. However, the Hornet is likely to
The Hawkeye represents the far-
remain in service beyond Kitty Hawk's
reaching eyes of the fleet. It uses its 2008 scheduled retirement date.

15
Flight Deck Crew
Safe and successful flying operations rely on a large collection of
people doing many different jobs. Flight deck personnel
wear colored clothing to identify their roles.

The deck of an aircraft carrier

during launch and recovery cycles

has been described as one of the most
dangerous working environments
in the world. Military flying is

a complex, demanding business

requiring a large number of ground
crew on land bases. At sea even more
people are needed for safe flying
operations, in a space much tighter
than is available at an air base.

Color Coded
In order to make operations as safe
and coordinated as possible, the
flight deck jobs have associated

colors, which are worn by the people

performing them.
Many of the jobs on deck require
vehicles to be used
moving aircraft
and ordnance, or lifting and stowing

Purple: The "grapes" are crew concerned

with aviation fuels. This "grape" is taking
aircraft fuel samples.
supplies
and all such vehicles are
known as "yellow gear," even though
they are sometimes painted white.

Green: The
"frogs" include
catapult and
arresting gear
crews, air wing
maintenance
<^^^
personnel,
cargo handlers,
ground support
/v*.'-^-.
-'^nfcfM *'^^-
equipment ^^^^^^^^BBlnfl
troubleshooters,
i^2_ ^Bfl^^^^^^
helicopter
landing signal
personnel and
hook runners.
MiEMM
V10450 1,1

..T-378lfl
Red: This category includes crash and
salvage crews, ordnancemen and explosive
ordnance disposal personnel.

m
Brown: Air wing plane captains and air
wing line leading petty officers.

White: A broad category including

n
air wing quality control personnel,
squadron plane inspectors, landing
signal officers, liquid oxygen crews,
safety observers and medical personnel.

\'
aw

Blue: This includes plane handlers, hangar

personnel, elevator and tractor operators
and communications personnel.

Yellow: This includes aircraft handling

and arresting gear
officers, catapult
officers and plane directors.
TODAY AND TOMORROW
The US Navy is building one more Nimitz-class carrier before it

looks to the future with an all-new design. Known as CVN-21,

development of this new class has already begun.

America maintains a fleet

of 12 aircraft-carriers: nine
Nimitz-class and three other ships.
The tenth of the Nimitz carriers,
George H. W. Bush, is under
construction and should be ready
for service in 2008. It will replace
USS Kitty Hawk.
It takes around five years from the
laying down of a Nimitz-class keel
to the ship's commissioning, and
advances in technology between
ships are vast. These are generally
in the ship's electronic systems:

communications, radars and battle

management systems. However,
advances can be more mundane.
USS Ronald Reagan, the penultimate
Nimitz-class ship, has revised
accommodation compared to those
before it to reflect a higher percentage
In keeping with naval tradition, USS
Nimitz wears its pennant number, "68,' of female crew.
on its forward flight deck.

The service life of a modern carrier is In a New Class

around 50 years, while a naval aircraft
might serve for around 30 years.
USS George H. W
Bush will introduce
own advances, including new
its

radars that will alter the shape of

its island. To a certain extent the
ship will act as a proving ground for
some of the electronics that will be
incorporated into the all-new systems
being developed for CVN[-21, the
first in a new class of aircraft carrier.

With the pennant number CVN-78,

the first of these new ships will replace
USS Enterprise, probably in 2013-14.
 West Coast East Coast
Here are the home ports of the US
Navy's stateside-based carriers and their Name: Theodore
Roosevelt, CVN-71
commission dates (including one based
Class: Nimitz
in Japan and one currently unassigned).
Date: October 25, 1i Name: Dwight
Home port:t:N6r
f^rfolk, VA D. Eisenhower,
CVN-69
Name: Abraham Lincoln, CVN-72 Class: Nimitz
Class: Nimitz Date: October
Date: November 11, 1989
Home port: Everett, WA 4
Name: Enterprise,
18,
Home
1977
port:
Norfolk, VA
CVN-65
Class: Enterprise
Name: John C. Date: November 25, 1961
Stennis, CVN-74 Home port: Norfolk, VA
Class: Nimitz
Date: Name: George
December Washington,
9, 1995
Home port:
CVN-74
Bremerton, WA Class: Nimitz
Date:
July 4, 1992
Name: Nimitz, CVN-68 Name: Harry S. Home port:
Truman, CVN-75 Norfolk, VA
Class: Nimitz
Date: May 3, 1975 Class: Nimitz
Home port: San Diego, CA Date: July 25, 1998
Home port: Norfolk, VA

Name: Ronald Reagan,

CVN-76
Class: Nimitz
Date: July 12, 2003
Home port: San Diego, CA
V Name: Carl Vinsen, CVN-70
Class: Nimitz
Date: March 13, 1983
Home port: Newport News, VA
Name: George Name: Kittvjbiawk,
H. W. Bush, CVA-63^^^
CVN-77 Class: Kitty Hawk Name: John F. Kennedy, CV-67
Class: Nimitz Date: April 29, 1961 Class: John F. Kennedy
Date: 2008 Home port: Date: September 7, 1968
Home port: N/A Yokosuka, Japan Home port: Mayport, FL

USS Ronald
Reagan was
deployed in
support of
Operations
Enduring
Freedom and
IraqiFreedom,
even though
itwas only
commissioned
in 2003.
 The Carrier Quiz
Answers on inside back cover

"I
What was the name of 4 Which was the first battle in

the US Navys first which neither side's vessels

aircraft carrier? saw the ships of the enemy?

A USS Shangri-La A Coral Sea

B USS Nimitz B Leyte Gulf
C USS Langley C Philippine Sea

The Lexington-class 5 Which was the firstjet

aircraft carriers were fighter to fly off a US

laid down as a different Navy carrier deck?

type of warship. Which

was it?
A Grumman F- 14 Tomcat
B McDonnell Douglas
A Battleship F-4 Phantom II

B Battlecruiser C North American

C Destroyer FJ-1 Fury

3 Which company 6 What powered the new

manufactured the geared generation of catapults
turbines on the USS Essexf to launch jet aircraft?

A Westinghouse A Air

B General Electric B Steam

C Pratt & Whitney C Coal

1^^
I

20
 '"*

k'
-''

' \
' -v/v .
*"
.^

T^JW ^^T
h^^:.!:

7 To which class did the 9 How many reactors power

USS Saratoga belong^ the Nimitz-class supercarrier

USS Nimitz?
A Arleigh Burke
B Forrestal A Two
C Kitty Hawk B Eigiit

C One

8 How many combat

cruises did the USS 1 ^^ich is the typical top
America sail ojfthe speed of a Nimitz-class
coast of North Vietnam? aircraft carrier? MJt."

A Nine A 42 mph
B Seven B 30 mph
C Three C 38 mph

21
11 Which is name of
the 1 4 ^OM/ many seats does
the group of ships and an F/A-18F Super
submarines that deploys Hornet have?
with a carrier?
A One
A Carrier strike group B Two
B Carrier support group C Four
C Carrier air wing

15^ pilot ^^0 h^^ been

12 The Phalanx system is a last forced to eject near a
line
of defense for supercarriers. carrier might expect to
Which does it protect against? he rescued by what?

A Radar A A Sea Sparrow

B Close-in guns B An attack submarine
C Close-in missiles C An SH-60F Ocean Hawk

^3 Ml carrier air groups

include the E-2C Hawkeye.
Which is its role?

A Airborne early
warning and control
B Delivering mail
C Attacking ships

22
1 Q A flight deck crewman is 19 Which is the name of the
wearing a purple jersey. final Nimitz-class ship?
Which does he or she
work with? A USS Ronald Reagan
B USS George H. W. Bush
A Catapults C USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
"^k
B Aviation fuel

C Ordnance
20 When is the first of
the Navys new class of
17 What color is aircraft carriers expected
"yellow gear"? to enter service?

A Yellow A 2113-2114
B Yellow or white B 2007-2008
C Green C 2013-2014

18 1% ^0^^ USS Ronald Answers on inside back cover f^'Y/

Reagan have revised

accommo datiton:

A Carriers now have

more female crew
B It has larger beds
C Sailors are able to take
A:, 'M
their families to sea

'^msmsnsf

23


WORLD
Only three countries other than the
Carriers
US fly conventional fixed-wing
aircraft off ships. These are France, which is commissioning a
second carrier for Its fleet, Russia and Brazil.

France:
Charles tie Gaulle

^^
The nuclear carrier Charles de Gaulle
the only such ship outside the US Navy
was commissioned in 2001 It sails with
.

an air wing of Rafale interceptors, Super

Etendard strike fighters, E-2C Hawkeye
AEW aircraft and helicopters.
Nuclear carrier Charles de Gaulle will
soon fly only Rafales and E-2Cs as its
fixed-wing element

Russia:
Atimiral Kuznetsov
Admiral Kuznetsov operates the
formidable Su-33 "Flanker-D" fighter
and helicopters. The ship is impressive
in capability, but it is relatively small

and its operations severely curtailed

by a lack of funding.

Russia has demonstrated the ability to

operate fast jets from its sole aircraft
carrier in terrible weather conditions.

Brazil:
Sao Paulo
Brazil's carrier Sao Paulo was built as
Foch for the French navy. It is equipped
withA-4KU and two-seat TA-4KU
Skyhawks purchased from Kuwait. It
embarks a number of helicopters, but
navy funds for its operations are limited.

Brazil has undertaken "cross-deck"

operations with the aircraft of
Argentina's navy and the US Navy.

24
 Quiz ANSWERS
1(c) 6(b) 11(a) 16(b)
2(b) 7(b) 12(c) 17(b)
3(a) 8(c) 13(a) 18(a)
4(a) 9(a) 14(b) 19(b)
5(c) 10(c) 15(c) 20(c)

PHOTO Credits
Front cover: US Navy Page 15 top US Navy, bottom Aerospace
Page 1 US Navy Page 16 US Navy
Page 2 top left Summertime Publishing Page 17 US Navy
Ltd., bottom TRH
right Page 18 US Navy
Page 3 top right US National Archives, Page 19 US Navy
bottom TRH Page 20 bottom left TRH, bottom right
Page 4 Michael J.H. Taylor Robert L. Lawson
Page 5 US National Archives Page 21 US Navy
Page 6 McDonnell Douglas Page 22 US Navy
Page 7 US Navy Page 23 US Navy
Page 8 US Navy Page 24 top Wingman Aviation, middle Aerospace,
Page 10 US Navy bottom Caliaro Luigino
Page 11 US Navy Back cover: US Navy
Page 13 US Navy Spine image Aerospace, DT.G.N, K.M.V, Lockheed
Page 14 top Aerospace, bottom left US Navy Martin, SAAB and US Navy.

To order please call 1-800-635-4120 or go to www.imponline.com

KT^:

us NAVY CARRIERS
# Packed with combat action from key
DVD traces the fascinating
conflicts, this
rise ofthe biggest warships the world
has ever known.

# Find out how US air power evolved

from early biplanes landing on converted
battleships to sophisticated warplanes on
enormous modern supercarriers.

i Discover everything you need to know

about the most powerful and flexible war
machines in existence, and why the first
question the President is likely to ask in
an international crisis is, "Where is the
nearest carrier?"

m^ MMVI International Masters Publistiing AB

Warning: Ttie unauthorized reproduction or distribution of

copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain,

punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of

ttiis copyrighted work

$250,000.
is
is illegal. Criminal

investigated by the FBI and is

Weapons of War may contain some scenes of violent battles that some parents may deem unsuitable for very

young children. The program contains no material that is defamatory obscene or harmful to the customer or

any other third party, or otherwise in contravention of law. IVIade in China.

Feature running time: Approximately 40 minutes

To order please call 1-800-635-4120 m

or go to www. imp-usa.com inspiring & informing you

i*iar. 10257 90060 1300 USPC501 12091