USS Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Pedro Monteiro]

Hi,

I would appreciated if someone could help me with some informations that I need for an article about the the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).
This ship made a a technical scale at Lisbon, between 12th and 16th May. I visited it in representation of the spanish defence magazine Fuerzas Militares del Mundo (I'm their correspondent for Portugal). Unfortunately there were only two reporters on the visit, me included. As we were photographers, the american military kindly gave us more freedom to make our photos and the visit was not centred on the information about the ship. Since I have a dead-line for send the article (in this case, for the Portuguese Air Forcr official magazine, Mais Alto) and I dind't recieve yet any answer from the officer responsable for the public relations, I ask to you if anyone can help me with the following questions:
a) when did occur the last flight of a Tomcat on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower?
b) when was retired from service the S-3 Viking? In which squadron did it was operate?
c) the C-2 cargo aircrafts are operated by which squadron?
d) the E-2 aircraft of the VAW-125 are from the most recent version (Hawkeye 2000)?
e) the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower'll participate, on next week, on a Theater Security Cooperation exercise withe the portuguese navy, right? Do you confirm the participation of spanish forces, too? Will the exercise have a specific name?
f) the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, like the other aircraft carriers from the USN, recieves new squadrons after a long maintenance period or any change can occur at any time?
g) what's the mean of flight hour of the Carrier Air Wing? How many landings and take-offs can be done by hour?

I can send some photos by e-mail.

All the best,
Pedro Monteiro

 

[kinggodzilla87]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Dwight_D._Eisenhower


has lots of good info

 

[Galrahn]

a) when did occur the last flight of a Tomcat on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower?

July 28, An F-14D "Tomcat" number 112, assigned to VF-31 "Tomccaters" and piloted by Lt. Blake Coleman and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Cmdr. Dave Lauderbaugh, was launched from catapult No. 3 at 4:42 p.m., from the "Big Stick", marking the final launch of an F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft. The last launch marks the end of an era for Naval Aviation. The F-14 will officially retire in September 2006, after 32 years of service to the fleet.

b) when was retired from service the S-3 Viking? In which squadron did it was operate?

The S-3 isn't retired completely yet, VS-32 will deploy in a few weeks with the USS Enterprise CSG.

The S-3s of VS-24 was disestablished on March 31st, 2007, its last deployment was with the USS Eisenhower.

c) the C-2 cargo aircrafts are operated by which squadron?

Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 “Rawhides (VRC-40)

d) the E-2 aircraft of the VAW-125 are from the most recent version (Hawkeye 2000)?

They were not for the previous deployment, they will transition soon though.

e) the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower'll participate, on next week, on a Theater Security Cooperation exercise withe the portuguese navy, right? Do you confirm the participation of spanish forces, too? Will the exercise have a specific name?

There is little information about this released yet.

f) the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, like the other aircraft carriers from the USN, receives new squadrons after a long maintenance period or any change can occur at any time?

It is possible for squadrons to transition to new equipment, and in some cases, for squadrons to get rotated to other Carrier Air Wings. "Common" may not be the right word, although it is common for specific pieces of equipment in the CAW to be swapped out or upgraded.

g) what's the mean of flight hour of the Carrier Air Wing? How many landings and take-offs can be done by hour?

It is different depending upon the length of deployment and the area of deployment, but as a general rule because of attrition (mechanical problems, crash etc..), the US Navy can achieve a realistic average 2.5 sortie rate per aircraft per day for the first 3 days, with each aircraft deploying a certain number of "aim points" (precision weapons), each of which can destroy an individual target. The following 72 hours a carrier can be expected to hit 2.0 sorties per day in a hot war. After that, logistics and attrition would catch up and the rate would drop considerably, only to pick up again a few days later.

Keep in mind that for 40-48 strike aircraft (F/18, EA-6 type) that could be well over 1000 aim points per day the first 72 hours, and close to 1000 the following 72 hours (depending upon the type of F/18s aboard), resulting in over 6000 targets destroyed by a single carrier in a span of a week. In today’s fleet, the 6 carriers deployed for the Gulf War in 1991 would be able to achieve around 4000 sorties, able to deliver around 25,000 precision weapons during that time period, which is vast improvement over the Navy contribution in 1991. This is with fewer planes than in 1991 (smaller air wings) and a much improved sortie rate. During the Gulf War in 1991, the Navy didn't even achieve a 1.0 sortie rate on any carrier after the first 72 hours of the 1991 Gulf War air campaign.

 

[Pedro Monteiro]

Fantastic explanation! With the answer that I recieved yesterday from the new officer for public affairs, I think I've enough material.

All the best,
Pedro Monteiro