It’s “What if Wednesday”, so “what if.. the United States would be willing to share its most advanced knowledge and technology in aircraft carrier building with some of its closest allies, in a similar way the US assists Australia with its new nuclear-powered submarines (which are basically the US Navy’s Virginia-class SSNs, the most advanced nuclear-powered attack submarines in the world)”. On display is a concept I made for such a nuclear powered supercarrier for America’s AUKUS allies and Japan, based on previous designs I made.
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The design is largely similar to the US Navy’s Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, but with a different island. It is also a bit smaller: it has a length of “just” 322m and a displacement of 93,284-long-ton (94,781 t) full load. It carries up to 78 fixed wing- and rotary aircraft, including up to 18 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). The stern area features a special flight deck for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that take off vertically.
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The supercarrier has a CATOBAR configuration, which allows it to launch jets using an electromagnetic launch system (EMALS) and recover these jets using the advanced arrestor gear (AAG) system. This allows the carrier to deploy a wider variety of (combat) jets, such as the F-35C (both Australia and Japan already operate an F-35 variant) and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.
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The carrier would be powered by two A1B reactors (similar to the ones on the Gerald R. Ford-class carriers), with the thermal power output of each A1B estimated to be around 700 MW (thermal). The A1B reactors likely produce enough steam to generate 125 megawatts (168,000 hp) of electricity, plus 350,000 shaft horsepower (260 MW) from just one reactor to power the four propeller shafts. The reactors get refueled at the ship’s midlife Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), about 25 years into the planned 50-year service life.
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The super carrier can launch an aircraft every 45 seconds, with a total sortie rate of around 160 a day with surges to 270, it can steam faster than 30 knots, cruise without resupply for 90 days, and launch manned and unmanned aircraft to strike targets hundreds of miles away.