Aircraft carriers are one of the most complicated weapon projects at present. There are only a handful of countries that have aircraft carriers in the world and can build them.
Building an aircraft carrier requires a lot of technology, such as design technology, power technology, carrier aircraft technology, arresting technology, and steel strength, etc., but you may not be able to build an aircraft carrier if you have the technology, because you need money , The cost of building an aircraft carrier is tens of billions, which is not affordable for every country. For example, Russia has aircraft carrier construction technology, but it only has one aircraft carrier, which means it lacks funds. An aircraft carrier symbolizes the overall strength of a country, and countries capable of building aircraft carriers already have advantages in technology, capital, and human resources.
How thick is the aircraft carrier deck?
First of all, not all countries can manufacture the steel used for aircraft carrier decks. The special steel materials that India’s new aircraft carrier needs to import from abroad cost thousands of kilograms. is about 80mm. The United States once tested that when a 30-ton heavy-duty fighter plane hit the deck of an aircraft carrier at high speed when it landed, the deck of the aircraft carrier was unscathed.
Of course, for some core positions of the aircraft carrier, such as the command center and the power system of the aircraft carrier, these positions will use armor plates with a thickness of up to 330 mm, which is somewhat similar to the armor plates used for tanks. In order to prevent the bombardment of torpedoes and submarine missiles, the underwater part of the hull is made of steel plates with a thickness of 150-200 mm.
Deck thickness is not an important indicator on an aircraft carrier, but to use the thinnest steel plate as much as possible while ensuring the same protective effect. The surface of the steel plate of the Varyag was stained and stained with rust, but the performance of the steel plate itself did not decline in any way, and the performance of the steel plate was basically the same as that of a brand-new steel plate after the rust was wiped off. Therefore, such steel can also be mass-produced in my country.
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How hard is it to sink?
The first thing that is certain is that the anti-sinking capability of modern aircraft carriers is indeed much stronger than imagined.
In 2005, the U.S. Navy used the decommissioned Kitty Hawk-class CV66 conventionally powered aircraft carrier USS America to conduct an aircraft carrier sinking experiment. The USS US aircraft carrier as the target ship finally sank to the bottom of the sea after 25 days of indiscriminate bombing. , And in the later stage of the experiment, the U.S. Navy also detonated a large number of high explosives installed on the aircraft carrier to complete the sinking mission. This sinking test made people soberly aware that sinking a modern aircraft carrier is far from as simple as imagined.
Its anti-sinking performance is simply guaranteed by deck and hull armor, compartmentalized watertight cabin design and strong damage control capability. If you want a detailed explanation, let's use the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier currently in service in the United States as an example. In order to effectively resist the attack of missiles and torpedoes and reduce the damage after being hit, the U.S. "Nimitz" class aircraft carrier uses a double-layer hull design from the bottom to the hangar deck on both sides. There are a large number of "X"-shaped components. When the hull is hit by torpedoes and missiles, the outer layer of the hull and the "X"-shaped components in the middle will undergo serious deformation, and quickly absorb the shock wave energy generated by the explosion of the torpedo or missile warhead. And the hull and deck made of high-quality high-strength alloy steel can effectively resist the attack of semi-armor-piercing warheads on anti-ship missiles.
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This protection concept is not only reflected on the aircraft carrier, just like the DDG-62 that had a collision accident last year. A large hole was pushed out of the bottom of the ship, and it was finally returned to the dock. This is also due to the watertight cabin.
The flight deck of the "Nimitz" class aircraft carrier adopts a completely enclosed design, and the underwater torpedo compartments on both sides of the hull can withstand the explosion of 300 kg of explosives. In addition to multiple longitudinal bulkheads, there are more than 20 watertight transverse compartments and multiple fire compartments in the ship. These longitudinal and transverse bulkheads constitute more than 2,000 compartments. Therefore, even if a small number of cabins are hit and flooded, the aircraft carrier can still maintain a strong survivability and will not sink.
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The modern aircraft carrier is difficult to sink, in fact, the main reason is that it is the core of the fleet, as the command center of the fleet, relying on the early warning aircraft and fighter jets it carries, as well as the phased array radar and nearly a thousand anti-aircraft missiles of the rest of the fleet. Tight air defense network, it is difficult to be hit in the air attack. The anti-submarine helicopters, the submarines in the fleet, and the bulbous bow sonar, towed sonar, and anti-submarine missiles carried by all ships in the fleet form an anti-submarine net that is difficult for submarines to approach, greatly reducing the chance of being attacked by torpedoes. In fact, not being hit is more important than being able to fight.
What is the aircraft carrier deck coating?
Modern aircraft carriers typically have an all-metal flight deck with a strong flight deck coating on it, primarily to improve friction.
Flight deck coatings are mainly composed of anti-skid pellets and film-forming resins. The flight deck is exposed to the harsh marine environment all year round. The deck coating needs to have good elasticity and flexibility, and be able to adapt to the temperature difference between day and night and seasonal changes, resulting in thermal expansion and contraction of the steel structure.
If the elasticity and flexibility of the coating are insufficient, this deformation will inevitably lead to damage such as cracking, peeling and falling off of the coating.
When a carrier-based aircraft takes off and lands on the deck, it will have a great impact on the coating, which requires a certain amount of elastic buffer, and the flight deck coating is generally thick, and the lack of flexibility will lead to cracking of the coating. The flight deck of a modern aircraft carrier is both resistant to Grinding and flexible, if the high heels can be trampled, how can you get off the plane?
▲The pentagonal pit is a mooring hole, not a rivet
To put it bluntly, it is used to tether the plane.
The friction coefficient of the flight deck coating is generally required to be above 0.7. The larger the friction coefficient, the better the skid resistance, which can effectively prevent the aircraft from skidding and personnel from falling due to turbulent waves. At the same time, the deck is also a place where aircraft take off and land and personnel activities are frequent. The excellent wear resistance of the coating can reduce the wear of the coating and prolong the service life of the coating.
The deck surface can withstand the marine climate with high salt, high humidity and high temperature difference, so as to avoid the corrosion of the steel substrate from aggravating
It looks simple, but it is not easy to be reliable for a long time
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier also has requirements for high temperature resistance and erosion resistance.
The Kiev-class aircraft carrier of the former Soviet Union uses short-range vertical take-off and landing fighters
In order to resist the high temperature tail flame, it is equipped with a flight deck with rivets, which is the only one without a semicolon!
Although the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is uneven, the pedaling comfort of the coating is still very good for the frequent activities and walking of personnel.
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Anti-skid flight deck of aircraft carrier under construction
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USS Carl Vinson's flight deck is being coated
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The flight deck surface coating is usually composed of 40-50% aluminum oxide, 20-35% barium sulfate, and 10-20% epoxy resin. This makes aircraft carrier flight deck coatings fire resistant!
