Aircraft Carriers

[xxgunnerxx]

I was watching a clip on youtube of Russia's only aircraft carrier. I noticed that instead of using a catapult system, they instead use a ski-slope type system. This got me thinking of what kind of pros and cons each system has over each other?
Thanks.

[Navaleye]

The ski jump on on the Russian carrier only works because of the high thrust/weight ratio of the Mig 29s and SU27s operating off it. Even so they are very limited in payload compared to a cat launch. It is a poor, but cheap compromise.

[Green Flash]

Don't they have Frogfoots too? How much can they lift off the deck?

[Not_a_boffin]

The problem with STOBAR (Short T/O But Arrested Recovery) is that you get the worst of both worlds in terms of deck management and parking. You need to keep a 200 x 15m swathe of deck aft of the ramp relatively clear to allow launches without too much respotting. Then you need a 220m x 20m swathe for recovery forward of the round-down - again unusable for parking. Although there is usually some overlap, thats upwards of 5-6000 sq metres of deck area that you can't spot a/c on. Incidentally, it's another reason why Rolling Vertical Landings are less than desirable. Same effect, although the recovery area for RVL isn't fixed yet.

Cats and VL are the good bits in terms of deck impact, but have fairly dramatic effects below deck and/or on the aircraft.

[ORAC]

I thought STOBAR was an acronym for Short Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery?

[GreenKnight121]

This is "barrier" (or barricade in the USN) recovery.

It causes damage to the aircraft.

http://lpmpjogja.diknas.go.id/kc/a/air/aircraft-carrier-47.jpg



This is an "arrested" recovery.

It does not cause damage to the aircraft.

http://lpmpjogja.diknas.go.id/kc/a/air/aircraft-carrier-6.jpg

[TEEEJ]

Green Flash,

The SU-25UTG is a simple naval trainer. The UTG came from the unarmed UT trainer variant. The Russians had a lack of UTGs and converted some Su-25UBs to naval SU-25UBP. I would expect that these were stripped down to purely fulfil the basic naval trainer capabilities of the UTGs.

TJ

[ESM]

I was told that the Frogfoots (up to 4 carried) are only used for carrier deck landing qualifications and currency. Thus they are unarmed and I assume lightweight. Makes sense really as it has a robust undercarrige and can take a beating.
Much less cash to fix up a frogfoot, compared with a bent and battered Su-33.

[Green Flash]

TEEEJ/ESM - thanks chasps, I stand corrected.

[Ayla]

http://66.235.120.64/ts?t=14956308932319102522&pid=23296&ppid=5 (http://wzus.ask.com/r?t=a&d=us&s=a&c=p&ti=1&ai=30751&l=dis&o=1651&sv=0a30050f&ip=d9a4b3fd&u=http%3A%2F%2Fcarl.typepad.com%2Fphotos%2Funcategorized%2Fu ss_oriskany_sinking.jpg)

No barrier required!

[Navaleye]

But they can take a good bashing before that happens....

Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reu_0uULP58)

[Not_a_boffin]

And she was only 20000 tonnes.

their 40000 tonners take some sinking as well....

Sinkex - See the fate of your old ship (http://www.sinkex.com/index.php?option=com_zoom&Itemid=28&page=view&catid=6&PageNo=1&key=0&hit=1&width=1024&height=768)