NationStates Jolt Archive

What are some Nimitz compatible aircraft (preferably of European or Russian descent).

The only truly Nimitz-compatible aircraft are US. The French Rafale is carrier-compatible, as is the Russian Su-33 Flanker-D, try them out.

Well...no European or Soviet aircraft has ever been flown off a Nimitz-class carrier, as far as I know, but modern carriers are all pretty much alike insofar as aircraft launch and recovery go.

As long as its not an amphibious assault ship (Wasp, Iwo Jima, etc.) then you should be able to fly any aircraft with the right gear (ie configured for naval ops) off it.

US Air Superiority Fighters are the F14s Strike Fighters are F18s

P-3s and other types of aircraft make up the rest of the compliment. Carriers are rated for 85 airplanes but that many will not allow amanuverability onboard. 72-75 is about it. 50 of those being combat aircraft (25 of each of the above)

a great site www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems

P-3s don't operate off carriers. The Orion is a shore-based ASW plane.

The S-3 Viking does, though its days as an ASW platform are coming to an end, so I hear.

But don't forget the E-2 Hawkeye, the EA-6 Prowler and the C-2 Greyhound.

P-3s don't operate off carriers. The Orion is a shore-based ASW plane.

The S-3 Viking does, though its days as an ASW platform are coming to an end, so I hear.

But don't forget the E-2 Hawkeye, the EA-6 Prowler and the C-2 Greyhound.

thanks. I was thinking of the s3 and typed p3.

There are, however naval variants of the Mig-29 with reinforced landing gear for carrier operations. To be very honest, most modern fighter aircraft can be modified to fly off of a carrier deck. You simply need to re-inforce the fuselage, add a tail-hook, and reinforce the landing gears.

There are, however naval variants of the Mig-29 with reinforced landing gear for carrier operations. To be very honest, most modern fighter aircraft can be modified to fly off of a carrier deck. You simply need to re-inforce the fuselage, add a tail-hook, and reinforce the landing gears.

Which can be quite an expensive undertaking if the airframe wasn't originally built for carrier operations. In many, if not most cases, it would be more expensive to refit existing airframes than to do a carrier-compatible redesign and build new airframes according to the redesign.

Before I begin, am I the only person in the world that has heard of the Russian CTOL aircraft carrier Kuznetsov?!

My source is the "International Directory of Military Aircraft 2002/2003" by Gerard Frawley

The MIG-29M (the Indians ordered it as the MIG-29K). While the M seems to have died off, the K is apparently operating off the Indian Baku/Admiral Gorshkov.

The SU-33 is a development of the SU-27, of which 20 operate off the Kuznetsov

Before I begin, am I the only person in the world that has heard of the Russian CTOL aircraft carrier Kuznetsov?!


The Su-39 and even the Su-24 can operate off the Kuznetsov carriers (which are all 100% CTOL aircrafts).

And most Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL) aircraft would be able to take off from a Nimitz without the catapult, correct?

Su-39M [GAU-10 cannon and smaller IR sdignasture]: $12.5 ml each
MiG-29K: $12.5 mil each
Su-37MKK: $52 mil each [RCS of a cruise missile, 2 extra AAM's, a 175 mile range radar, and a switchblade wing design which gives it forward swept wings at lo speed which fold into each other at higher seeds].

Landing is a different matter.

Before I begin, am I the only person in the world that has heard of the Russian CTOL aircraft carrier Kuznetsov?!

My source is the "International Directory of Military Aircraft 2002/2003" by Gerard Frawley

The MIG-29M (the Indians ordered it as the MIG-29K). While the M seems to have died off, the K is apparently operating off the Indian Baku/Admiral Gorshkov.

The SU-33 is a development of the SU-27, of which 20 operate off the Kuznetsov

The Kuznetsov, once known as the Tblisi (comissioned name), is a CTOL carrier, true, but it serves a different purpose than other CTOL carriers. The major thing about it, is that it has no catapults. It instead has a ski-ramp and is designed primarily for air superiority. The lack of the ski-ramp precludes the ability to launch aircraft with heavy strike loads. As such, the carrier isn't even really designated as an aircraft carrier but a heavy aviation cruiser. It also had a sister ship that was completed but never comissioned, lost to the Ukraine in the break up of the Soviet Union and now under the control of the Chinese.

So what soviet/european aircraft can operate off of a Nimitz-class Carrier?

(About the Kuzzy) Yes, that's right. I remember that even the Mighty French had to buy American catapults for the Charles de Gaulle.....

I was just puzzled, because I remember in an old version of the book I've got, a MIG-29K sitting on the catapult of the Kuznetsov..... :? I'd have to find the book to make sure.....

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/kuznetsov/

In all it's former glory...