Aviation Specials - July 2018

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UNITED STATES NAVY

AIR POWER 2018

AIR POWER REVIEW

1 NAS Whidbey Island

2 NAS Fallon

3 NAS Lemoore

4 NAWS China Lake

5 Edwards AFB

6 NAS Point Mugu

7 MCAS Camp Pendleton

8 MCAS Miramar

9 NAS North Island

10 MCAS Yuma

11 TInker AFB

12 NAS JRB Fort Worth

13 NAS Corpus Christi

14 NAS Kingsville

15 NAS JRB New Orleans

16 NAS Pensacola

17 NAS Whiting Field

18 Eglin AFB

19 NAS Key West

20 NAS Jacksonville

21 NS Mayport

22 Robins AFB

23 MCAS Beaufort

24 MCAS New River

25 MCAS Cherry Point

26 NAS Oceana

27 Chambers Field, NS Norfolk

28 NAS Patuxent River

29 JB Andrews — NAF Washington

30 JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

31 JB Pearl Harbor/Hickam

32 MCAS Kaneohe Bay

This overview of US naval air power provides a

detailed directory of units, bases and aircraft.

REPORT Tom Kaminski

Aircraft Number Mission

F/A-18C/E/F (44) Strike Fighter

EA-18G (5) Airborne Electronic Attack

E-2C/D (5) Airborne Early Warning

MH-60R/S (19) Antisubmarine/Antisurface warfare/Logistical Support

C-2A (2) Carrier Onboard Delivery

The future carrier air wing structure will comprise two squadrons of F-35Cs, two squadrons equipped with

F/A-18E/Fs and a single squadron with EA-18Gs.

H

EADQUARTERED

AT THE Pentagon in

Arlington, Virginia, the

Department of the

Navy is led by a four-star

admiral, known as the

chief of naval operations (CNO).

Operational naval combat units that

are under the under administrative

control of the US Fleet Forces

Command/US Atlantic Fleet and US

Paci c Fleet and their subordinate

type commands are considered to

be the navy’s operating forces. I t ’s

the world’s largest naval air arm and

formally recognizes its birth date as

May 8, 1911.

The commander, Naval Air Forces

(COMNAVAIRFOR) is responsible

for the Naval Aviation Enterprise,

which is headquartered at NAS

North Island, California, and is

also responsible for maintaining

administrative control over

squadrons assigned to the US

Paci c Fleet. The responsibility for

the Atlantic Fleet units rests with

the commander, Naval Air Force

Atlantic (COMNAVAIRLANT) at

Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.

The US Navy’s force of 11

nuclear-powered aircraft carriers

includes nine ships that can

deploy as the  agship of a Carrier

Strike Group (CSG). The CSG and

the carriers’ embarked air wings

provide the national command

authority with a powerful, forward-

deployed diplomatic weapon

capable of projecting a tactical

and strategic presence where and

when required.

Five aircraft carriers and  ve

carrier air wings are assigned

to the US Paci c Fleet. The US

Atlantic Fleet also has  ve carriers

assigned but only four are currently

considered to be deployable

because CVN 78 is still supporting

post-delivery testing and training.

Just four CVWs are assigned to

the Atlantic  eet. The size of the

carrier  eet ensures that the navy

can simultaneously maintain two

deployed carrier strike groups

while retaining the ability to surge

three or more additional groups,

if required.

The carriers

The  eet achieved a milestone in

early November 2017 when seven

CSGs were simultaneously at sea

for the  rst time since 2004. The

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS

Nimitz (CVN 68) and USS Theodore

Roosevelt (CVN 71) were conducting

operational deployments in the

western Paci c as part of the

Seventh US Fleet. In addition,

the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and

USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) were

US NAVY & MARINE CORPS AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2018

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