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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A Welcome to America

Next year, America will join the fleet. It is our first "stealth carrier."

Technically, she's an amphibious warfare carrier:

The new amphibious assault ship AMERICA (LHA 6) took to the sea for the first time Nov. 5, carrying out five days of builder’s sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico. ...

The AMERICA and her sister ship TRIPOLI are the first big-deck assault ships not built with an internal well deck. Rather, the ships are optimized to support Marine Corps aviation combat elements[.] ...

America-class ships are 844 feet long and 106 feet wide and displace 44,971 long tons. The gas-turbine propulsion system drives the ships in excess of 20 knots. They will accommodate a crew of 1,059 (65 officers) and 1,687 troops.

If equipped with F-35B vertical take off and landing planes, these ships will be a stealth aircraft carrier fleet that can back up our big deck Ford class ships.

Why that might be important is another question, of course.

America will join the fleet next year. I'll breathe easier.