Function: Centerpiece and Flagship of the Navy's "Forward....from the sea..." power projection mission.





Description: Hosting 85 aircraft and carrying enough supplies to sustain her Air Wing and escorts for 90 days, the modern U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, in effect, represents a mobile piece of American real estate, capable of projecting the power and influence of the United States any where in the world. With the end of the Cold War the Navy carrier mission has shifted from maintaining Sea Lanes of Communication and confronting the Soviet Navy to addressing regional threats to U.S. interests. While still fully capable of dominating the open seas, the Navy, through the Carrier Battle Groups, now focuses on supporting near-shore "littoral zone" and inshore U.S. ground operations. While the Ticonderoga class Guided Missile Cruisers and Arleigh Burke class Guided Missile Destroyers possess an awesome amount of firepower, they lack the flexibility of the carrier air wing. By swapping out and adjusting the number of aircraft aboard, the aircraft carrier can tailor its air wing to meet mission needs. Deployed in 1961, The Kitty Hawk and the Constellation are the only conventional carriers still on active duty with the U.S. Navy, with the Kitty Hawk also being the only forward-deployed conventional carrier. These carriers are expected to remain in service until 2008.





General Characteristics, Kitty Hawk Class



Builders:

CV 63 - New York Ship Building Corp., Camden, NJ



CV 64 - New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, NY





Power Plant:

Eight Foster & Wheeler boilers, four Westinghouse steam turbines, four shafts, 280,000 total shaft horsepower





Date Deployed:

April 29, 1961 (USS Kitty Hawk)





Length, Overall:

1062.5 feet (323.85 meters)





Flight Deck Length:

252 feet (76.81 meters)





Beam:

130 feet (39.62 meters)





Displacement:

Approx. 80,800 long tons (82,096.69 metric tons) full load





Speed:

30+ knots (34.52+mph, 55.55+ kph)





Crew:

Ship's Company: 3,150 - Air Wing: 2,480







Armament:

Three Mk 29 Launchers for NATO Sea Sparrow (RIM-7M) Surface to Air missile



One Mk 15 Mod 2 Close-In Weapon System (3 mounts)





Sensors:

One AN/SPS-48 air search radar



One AN/SPS-49 air search radar



One AN/SPS-67 surface search radar



One AN/SPS-64 navigational radar



Three Mk 91 fire control directors (Sea Sparrow)





Countermeasures:

One Mk 36 Mod 2 Super Rapid-Blooming Off Board Chaff System (SRBOC)



One AN/SLQ-29 electronic warfare suite



One AN/SLQ-25 towed torpedo decoy (Nixie)





Aircraft:

85









Ships:

USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), Yokosuka, Japan

USS Constellation (CV-64), San Diego, CA