Navy aircraft carrier designed for trouble-free maintenance.

• Author: Stanton, John
• Position: Up Front

Despite growing interest in possibly expanding the number of vertical-takeoff warplanes in the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter program, the additional maintenance work associated with these aircraft makes it unlikely that they will fly from the deck of the Navy's future aircraft carrier, the CVN-21.

The CVN-21 will be far more sophisticated than the current Nimitz-class carriers. Air wings operating from CVN-21 are expected to include a blend of advanced combat jets, as well as unmanned aircraft. The Navy is slated to buy a carrier-unique version of the JSF, eventually to replace the Super Hornet attack fighter, but the Navy does not plan to add the vertical-lift JSF model into the mix aboard CVN-21. The vertical-lift JSF is intended to replace the Marine Corps' Harrier, and to operate from large-deck amphibious ships.

Maintenance "issues" associated with the vertical-takeoff JSF have led the Navy to make the decision that the aircraft should not operate from CNV-21, said Rear Adm. Dennis Dwyer, Navy program executive officer for aircraft carriers.

A spokesman for the manufacturer of the JSF, Lockheed Martin, said company officials were surprised by Dwyer's statement. "The whole emphasis of the JSF program is shifting to STOVL (short takeoff and landing), particularly given the lessons learned in Afghanistan and Iraq with their bombed out runways," he said. "STOVL is the most transformational fighter of the three versions."

Lockheed Martin has not identified any maintenance issues that would prevent STOVL from being deployed aboard the CVN-21, the spokesman said. "Other than the lift fan, all the maintenance is essentially the same for STOVL and standard version."

Maintenance is an overarching theme in CVN-21. The entire design of the ship was aimed at simplifying aircraft and weapon maintenance, and in the process shrinking the amount of manual labor needed aboard the ship. While a Nimitz-class carrier has a crew of more than 5,000, the CVN-21 will get by with about 2,000 sailors.

In a briefing to reporters last month, Dwyer explained that the CVN-21 features maintenance concepts taken right out of NASCAR's auto racing playbook--with on-deck pit stops on the starboard side of the carrier. Rather than move an aircraft from station to station to receive ordnance, fuel and diagnostic treatment, the pit stop provides a single, centralized point for all the aircraft's needs.

Advanced weapons elevators have been developed for the CVN-21...