Prior to WW2 the power of the U.S. Navy fleet was in her battleships. During the course of the war, the aircraft carrier came into its being as the greatest asset afloat. Unfortunately, the United States was not the ones to capitalize on this first. The bombing of Perl Harbor, Hawaii proved how formidable the carrier could be. This portable airfield with its air force proved time and time again how important a roll this craft could be. With victories at Midway, Saipan and Iwo Jima, the carrier was the most prized fighter of the war. As World War 2 was drawing to a close it was evident to military leaders that, with the progression of aviation during the war, more was needed. The United States Navy was no exception to this mind set. …show more content…
These were Consolidated, Curtis, Douglas, Fairchild, Martin, and Republic. At the time eight other companies declined to bid on the contract due to other interests at the time. Of the original bidders none are in business today.
Development
At the time the DCNO announced the requirements for the Navy’s new bomber, Ed Heinemann, of the Douglas Aircraft Corporation, was working on developing a medium range nuclear bomber for the newly formed Air Force. There were two proposals that he had been working on, one was a turbo prop model that weighed in at 80,000 lbs, and the other was powered by turbo jet engines weighing in at 70,000 lbs. Urged by Douglas executives he pitched his designs to the Navy. However, the Navy was looking for a larger aircraft to occupy its new super carrier, the USS United States CV-58, and his concepts were not received with much regard. Undaunted, Ed Heinemann returned to Douglas’ El Segundo plant and began work to modify his plans from an Air Force aircraft to one that could serve the Navy. Whether due to his contacts or just extreme luck, Ed did not believe that CV-58 would ever be built. His continued efforts were driven to provide the Navy with an aircraft that could operate on existing carrier designs. Due to the nature of the intended payload most of the design and research was conducted in secret. The payload itself presented problems of its own. The current model of nuclear
The after taking 25 years to develop the F22 Raptor from conception to operational certification the United States Air Force (USAF) produced the world’s first 5th Generation air superiority fighter. (site) This revolutionary fighter plane leveraged its very low observable stealth (VLO) and thrust-vectoring and digital fly by wire technology, to produce an extremely fast, agile and deadly air to air combatant. (GEO P 2) However, in 2009 Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, (SECDEF) convinced the President (POTUS) and Congress to truncate the F22 program, leaving the USAF with less than 187 operational F22 Raptors, this number was well short of the 381 the USAF estimated they needed to meet their mission requirements. (AWC 1/ site) Gates made his controversial decision based on three factors. This essay will explore these factors and explain how the 2009 U.S strategic environment, the overall cost of the F22 and Secretary Gates’ desire to change the Department of Defense (DOD) all lead to the decision to limit the production of the F22 Raptor at 187 aircraft.
But, the aircrafts were eventually used for more than scouting ahead it later turned into a point of emphasis of where the war would take place. Using this source to support my thesis will help give a better understanding of what I will be writing about. I will be using this source to help the development of sub-points that I will be using in my research paper. The context of this source will help out on the claims and development of things I will discuss in my paper, and I will not use this document to disagree
The name General Carl ‘Tooey’ Andrew Spaatz has become synonymous with the phrase air power and strategist. Air power has come along way since Wilbur and Orville launched the first airplane in 1902 in the city of Kitty Hawk. Famous engineers have taken the Wright-Brothers design and made great improvements to them while slowly integrating these new powerful means of transportation, weaponry and communication aids into the military. Since the onset of World War I there has been a debate on how to most effectively use these new airplanes in the Army’s collection. Most individuals believed that airplanes should be under control of the Army theater commander, while very
Ships were also revolutionized during the World War II era. Naval technology was very poor at the time, but once radar technology was developed, navigation and detection was made much easier for submarine and ship pilots. The invention of radar was still very new — being developed only 2 years prior to the start of World War II. Hours of experimentation and development were poured into enhancing radar technology so that the allied forces could better combat the Nazi fleet. Aircrafts were also made more advanced during World War II. Aviation in general was very new at the time, so optimizing what basic aircrafts we had at the time for battle (by equipping them with guns and bombs) was a challenging feat. Considering the first powered flight had taken place only in 1903, only 40 years before
The First World War was monumental in history because of all the new technology that was introduced. One particular area that developed during the Great War was the use of airplanes by the German and Allied militaries. In comparison, they both had different mentalities towards an invention that was only made successful less than a decade before the outbreak of war in 1914 by the Wright Brothers in North Carolina, United States. The German Military welcomed the idea with open arms, investing in its potential for military uses, whereas the Allies remained reserved and hesitant, claiming that aircraft could not be used for anything more offensive than reconnaissance missions. These differences in opinions later affected the development of each air force. The German military kept making monthly improvements to their equipment whereas the allied pilots were slow in their respective air forces evolution. However, there was a common progression that both militaries had which was the slow phasing out of the cavalry on either side due to the effectiveness of the aircrafts reconnaissance capabilities. During the World War One, the German military took advantage of the new technology available to them, which gave significant results, whereas the Allies had a more traditional mindset for the beginning of the conflict.
The date is June 4, 1942 and raging in the blue Pacific Ocean around a small atoll named Midway, a battle is being fought for survival and complete victory. Late in the day on June the 4th, United States Navy “helldivers” scream down from the heavens to rain hell upon the Japanese fleet carriers below. Within minutes, three of the Imperial Navy’s great carriers are sent to the bottom of the Pacific in great fireballs. The massive destruction was wrought by the well-known Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber of the Second World War. The “slow but deadly” SBD Dauntless served the United States Navy well for most of the Pacific War and was eventually replaced by the newer and improved SB2C Helldiver or simply “the beast”. These two planes share
As a developing civilian pilot and a future naval officer, naval air power is the most significant aspect of the Navy. Since naval air power developed after numerous ship-to-ship altercations, it is believed that the ideas of naval air power developed from the theories of Alfred T. Mahan. According to Professor Rubel, the Dean of Naval Warfare Studies at the Naval Warfare College, Naval aviation has established and developed “no separate theoretical basis for either its own justification or employment” (Rubel 64). Alfred T. Mahan strategies ranged from having complete and utter control of all movements across the sea, to having a large Navy that is capable of controlling and using force to either preserve our territories or deter enemies at all costs. Naval air power piggy-backed off of Alfred T. Mahan’s theories and strategies, and eventually composed three naval air power operations that “seize, maintain, and exercise command of the sea/air” (Rubel 64). Whether these operations are through long-distance missile attacks, bombardments, or even land-based amphibious attacks with the Marine Corps, NAVAIR has developed technology that allows the United States to be the world’s most efficient, effective, and active
The theme that the navy’s wanted their planes to be the last planes flying. (Military Factory said) First, we see this in the United States planes they made their planes 75% faster than the Japanese so
Aircrafts in World War 2 was arguably the most important weapons delivery system. This advancements in aviation gasoline were able to provide 15 percent higher speed, a 1500 mile longer range for bombers, and an increased altitude of 10,000 feet. Aviation gasoline was very important at that time as it was able to provide airplanes with the wanted capabilities at that time, and hydrogenation increased the octane readings of gasoline, which also increases the engine’s power. One important use of aircraft was during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, which destroyed most of the U.S Pacific fleet. It is significant that many of the closing events of World War 2 was also dependent on aircraft.
The Battle of the Coral Sea has been addressed by several interviews from people who have participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea. This battle included aircraft carriers that engaged each other with the advantage of aviation assets. These aircraft carriers did not have the technology to see each other, so they relied significantly on the use of aviation assets. These aviation assets acted as artillery reconnaissance for the ships to engage the Japanese. This four day battle starting on four May 1942 was a major naval battle that was conducted in the Pacific Theater during World War II (WWII). The Battle of the Coral Sea consisted of the Japanese Navy, the United States, and Australia. The significance of aviation assets contributed
Flying was a new technology that fascinated many people but still created a lot of scepticism when it came to practical applications. Most of the first aircrafts (Source E) were very slow, fragile and barley enough power to lift a single pilot. By the end of the war aircrafts had become classier and had differentiated into fighters, bombers and long-range bombers. At first the aircrafts were used to observe the enemy’s troops. As the aircrafts efficiency became known to the enemy’s they realised that the aircrafts were capable of being shot down with weaponry from land.
Towards the end of the War the airplane becomes a practical device of war being able to carry weapons. Anthony Fokker and Louis Bleriot create the most successful of early modern biplanes known as the D-VII and D-VIII. Biplanes are eventually taken over by the monoplane, or one wing. This new design allowed for faster flight and better visibility for the pilot. Air-cooled engines lead the way for commercial aircraft, and Boeing introduces the first modern airliner the 247. Airplanes are effected the greatest by supply and demand of war. New styles of war begun to emerge so did new and improved types of aircraft. The population of the U.S. also begun to grow which leads to the modern most sophisticated commercial airliner the 777. Most aircraft improvements are found in the military and intelligence field. The most high tech aircraft known today for such things as spying are the SR-71 Blackbird, and the U-2 Spy plane. The most complicated and best aircraft performance is still held by the space shuttle and probably always will be. The last 200 years have seen incredible changes in aircraft from the man with wings to heavier than air flying machines that can travel at supersonic speeds.
In the 1930s the war at sea was dominated by the battleship. But as aircraft design became broadly improved, battleships began
The B-58 itself showed to the world that the possibility of a civilian SST was at least worthy of accurate investigation and capital investments. Although the large bomber implemented the supersonic efficient area-ruling design first introduced by Whitcomb (mid 1950s [1]) and therefore it could deliver a nuclear payload cruising at Mach 2 for about two hours, the light and thin wings, designed for high altitude flight and inefficient close to the ground at subsonic speed, highlighted a new set of primary technical challenges to be addressed by a commercial SST: the realization satisfactory structural design, the optimization of the wing aerodynamics for subsonic flow, and related to the last point, the improvement of takeoff and landing performance. A deadly crash at 1961 Paris air show summed up all the concerns about safety issues related to a not optimal overall design [4].
“Supersonic cruising aircraft did not begin until the mid-1950 's. Research on such aircraft had its origins in the United States in the work which was begun in 1954 or 1955 in support of the Air Force XB-70