It’s Time to Retire the Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carriers
A recent video of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the progenitor of the iconic Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that has formed the backbone of the United States Navy for several decades, leaving the U.S. Navy’s base in Bremerton, Wash., was meant to highlight the potency and durability of the legendary warship. Sadly, one couldn’t help but to notice how much bad shape the warship is in. This is after it had just finished a stay in port, where the Navy was obviously busily updating the aging ship and repairing her.
The storied old ship came floating out of Bremerton escorted by a tug and the first thing objective observers couldn’t help but to notice was all the lines of rust streaking across her hull. Sure, sure, the aircraft carrier cabal will insist that this is just the cost of doing business; that the visible signs of rust are merely superficial and any claims to the contrary betrays a true lack of understanding of the power and majesty of America’s Nimitz-class flat tops.
A Relic of a Bygone Era
America’s Nimitz-class carriers are truly historic vessels. In other words, they’re very old. The Nimitz herself is 50 years old. Indeed, this flat top—like all America’s carriers, not only the Nimitz-class but the newer Ford-class as well—were all designed to fight yesterday’s war. Today, the Nimitz and her progeny are painfully obsolete, visible rust notwithstanding.
Some carrier lovers might defend the Nimitz’s age by saying that the United States Air Force’s B-52 Stratofortress is equally as old as the Nimitz. Indeed, it is. And to be fair, I have written in defense of the Air Force’s maintaining of these incredible bombers well into the middle of this century. But one must be able to possess discernment to see how and why the B-52 being 50 years old and the Nimitz being as old are not the same thing.
Frankly, the wear-and-tear on the Nimitz is far greater and the saltwater environment U.S. Navy warships operate in are likely far more harmful to U.S. platforms than the environments that the B-52 flies in.
Plus, the costs of building new B-52s and maintaining existing units are much less than are the costs for maintaining the aging Nimitz-class carriers and building the even costlier newer Ford-class boats.
Anyway, the Nimitz is set to be retired this year from active duty and mothballed around 2027. To be clear: the Nimitz-class has served her country with distinction. She is an overall success, given the timeframe she served. Back then, she and her progeny were relevant to the global threat environment. But those days are over. The fact of the matter is that the rest of the carrier force—especially the newer Ford-class carriers—are susceptible to enemy anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) systems that are growing more complex with each year.
If You Know A2/AD, Then You Know Carriers Aren’t Helpful Right Now
We all think about China and their robust network of A2/AD systems arrayed across the South China Sea and along China’s coastline that can threaten places like the Taiwan Strait, the East China Sea, and reach all the way out to American airbases on Guam.
Few, however, contemplate the way that even smaller groups, like the Yemen-based, Iran-backed Houthi rebels can now seriously hamper American carrier operations with A2/AD systems. You read that right. The Houthis have proven repeatedly that they can at the very least stunt an aircraft carrier’s normal combat operations by lobbing multiple missiles and drones at the ships as they get close.
This, in turn, has forced the carriers to maintain a safe distance from Houthi targets. While it has not entirely deterred the carrier force from operating against Houthi targets in Yemen, the Houthi A2/AD systems have complicated the Navy’s power projection significantly. Now just imagine how a more robust and advanced A2/AD network would completely stop the Navy from reliably deploying its aircraft carriers into contested regions, such as in the Indo-Pacific.
The Specs of the Nimitz-class Carrier
A Nimitz-class aircraft carrier displaces approximately 100,000 long tons when fully loaded. Two nuclear reactors pour four steam turbines and four shafts, which produce 260,000 shaft horsepower.
These boats can travel around 30 knots or 34 miles per hour. Around 3,200 sailors and marines serve aboard these ships with an airwing comprising roughly 2,480 fixed-wing and rotor aircraft. Two-to-three Sea Sparrow (RIM-162) Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) launchers are utilized for anti-aircraft defense. Additionally, two-to-three Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) defends the great ship from close-range missiles and aircraft along with a variety of machine guns.
All these systems, no matter how impressive, are useless if the carriers cannot get within striking range for their planes because a target is insulated by A2/AD. Further, no amount of CIWS or anti-ballistic missile defenses can stop all the incoming missiles—some of them hypersonic—from enemy A2/AD systems.
In essence, even if a carrier is lucky to avoid being sunk by enemy A2/AD fire, its flight deck will most certainly be damaged, rendering the carrier as a wasting asset.
A Waste of Money
The Navy needs to stop blowing its money on new aircraft carriers and start sending the money it typically allocates for its flat tops to systems that can reliably obliterate enemy A2/AD formations. Once those systems are destroyed, then the Navy can start deploying its conventional forces.
Right now, however, the Navy is going to see many of its most expensive platforms destroyed because the Pentagon refuses to develop systems that can reliably counter the A2/AD advantages of America’s enemies.
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
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