An American carrier strike group, led by the USS Harry S. Truman, is currently conducting routine flight operations off the British coast in the North Sea.
The carrier, accompanied by the destroyers USS Stout and USS Jason Durham, as well as the cruiser USS Gettysburg, has been launching fighter jets and helicopters as part of its scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of responsibility.
The USS Harry S. Truman is currently conducting routine flight operations off the British coast in the North Sea, launching fighter jets and helicopters. The carrier recently transited through the English Channel and will soon take part in joint exercises. pic.twitter.com/o5p2H6z4FN
— UK Defence Journal (@UKDefJournal) October 22, 2024
The USS Harry S. Truman entered the North Sea after transiting through the English Channel last week. These operations are part of its broader mission to maintain combat readiness and enhance the operational capabilities of its naval forces.
Rear Admiral Sean Bailey, commander of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG), spoke of the importance of these exercises, stating, “Over 6,600 Sailors of the Harry S Truman Carrier Strike Group have put in a tremendous effort to train and prepare to demonstrate the combat power of our U.S. Naval forces and the warfighting advantage they bring.”
The squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1 embarked aboard Harry S. Truman include:
– The “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11
– The “Pukin’ Dogs” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 143
– The “Sunliners” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 81
– The “Knighthawks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136
– The “Main Battery” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 144
– The “Seahawks” of Control Squadron (VAW) 126
– The “Proud Warriors” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 72
– The “Dragonslayers” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 11
– A detachment from the “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Squadron (VRC) 4
“This deployment comes on the heels of the Dwight D Eisenhower Strike Group nine-month mission that highlighted the need for continuity in our sustained presence amid escalating international tensions,” said Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet
Forces Command.
“The Truman Strike Group will contribute to the ongoing combat readiness of our naval forces. The operational experience gained through these deployments is invaluable for maintaining a deep bench of skilled warfighters with confidence in their system’s reliability, adaptability, and lethality in a rapidly changing security environment.”
The U.S. Navy also say that throughout its 26 years of service, Harry S. Truman has deployed nine times to support critical missions and numerous operations and played a pivotal role in the United States’ commitment to ensuring a free and open international order that promotes security and prosperity.
No disrespect to the ship or its company but when looking at the air group it’s looking very low end these days. The USN clearly made a mistake by all but ignoring F35 even after the DoD had to go to great expense developing a naval version. F18 is looking like the sword fish of the 21st century. An effective low cost aircraft that’s well past its prime. The fact that the US navy continues to deploy multi billion dollar carriers with no modern combat jets onboard is astounding.
Fortunately the USMC went the other way as the did the Royal Navy,
The USN is indeed incorporating F-35Cs into their air groups, but the Pacific CVNs have priority. The Carl Vinson, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln air wings have F-35C squadrons assigned already. Theodore Roosevelt can operate them and will likely get either VMFA-311 or VFA-86 very soon. So 3 American CVNs have F-35C squadrons now and one will soon.
As to the Super Hornet, the USN is currently recapitalizing the entire Super Hornet fleet to the new Block III standard. Super Hornets can fire all of the advanced weapons in the USN inventory already, while the F-35C currently has good air to air capability, but the strike capability is limited to iron bombs, JDAMs, the 25mm gun pod, and JSOW, though they will have Stormbreaker by 2026 and LRASM integration is ongoing.
The new Ford-class John F. Kennedy is slated for delivery next year with F-35 capability, the Stennis will get out of mid-life refueling in 2026 with F-35C capability, and the Ford and Reagan seem to be getting the capability soon as well. Nimitz herself will likely not get them as she will retire in a few years, but the rest of the Nimitz class will get F-36Cs in due time. Even the USN is subject to budget constraints.
They can upgrade the F18 all day long much as they did with the sword fish, it’s still slow and it’s not LO.
The USAF a does not believe such aircraft can survive on a modern battlefield yet the USN is doubling down.
That’s exactly what happened with sword fish. Super advanced electronics on a bi plane and good men died trying to fight through ME109’s during the Chanel dash.
It’s not supposed to be LO, but the Block III program does make the F-18 a bit more LO than it is now… As for speed, it’s plenty fast enough for what they use it for, especially if it’s carrying bombs, JSOW, LRASM, ARRGM ER, regular HARM, AIM-174B, etc.
The USAF isn’t getting rid of their F-16s any time soon, and they are still buying new versions of F-15. Indeed, they are even spending a lot of money on the the B-52 modernization:) Horses for courses, not every target needs a visit by an F-35, mass is important.
Yes but the USAF is working on having atleast half of its force being LO and the navy is looking at more like 15%.
Fighting a peer adversary those F18 are likely close to useless unless a major SEAD/DEAD operation is conducted by 5th Gen aircraft. In the air to air role the F18 will be at a massive disadvantage against aircraft like the J20.
This is not me saying this but the USN itself. This is what they are so desperate for their own NGAD fighter. But it’s jam tomorrows that’s not likely to come. They have the most capable manned aircraft on the planet in the F35C and they still treat its like a red headed step child.
Even after it’s rolled out to every carrier which will still take years it will still only make up a small part of the fleet. The F35B will outnumber it by quite a margin.
They could have replaced their F18’s with F35C and used the money saved to develop drones instead of some Top Gun maverick fantasy replacement for the F14 which will cost a fortune and never be delivered.
I’m not sure where you are getting your data. The program of record for Department Of the Navy F-35Cs in the FY 25 budget documents is 369, the program of record for F/A-18 Es and Fs is 698, so about half the USN’s strike fighters will be F-35Cs eventually. The C model was the last one developed, so is the most behind compared to As and Bs.
The USAF’s NGAD program is currently on hold due to reimagining, but the USN version is still moving forward, if slowly. Both NGAD programs will happen, but will take time.
The USN is totally developing drones, The MQ-25 is a program of record of 71 planes, production models will start delivering in 2027. They will start as refueling assets, but ISR and datalink relay is in the picture as well. The loyal wingman part of the F/A-XX program is more distant, but it’s coming. Drones are happening, regardless of F/A-18s.
The only potentially hostile county with any aircraft that could outmatch the Super Hornets is China, which is why the USN is prioritizing the pacific fleet for F35C. Plus there are plenty of USMC LPAs with F-35Bs in that theatre, and USAF squadrons with rotating deployments including F22s.
The only other hostile country with a small number of 5th gen aircraft is Russia. But they have very few, and would much more likely be up against USAF or european air forces than find themselves facing a USN CVN.
And the actual capabilities of both Russian and Chinese 5th gen aircraft is debatable, especially in light of Russian air force performance in Ukraine.
The F-18E has the lowest RCS of any 4th gen jet.
In a conflict. Numbers matter. Always have and always will.
Someone tell that to the guys fighting the First Matabele War.
“No disrespect to the ship or its company but when looking at the air group it’s looking very low end these days.”
That is funny and sadly detached from reality. There is not another csg in existence that can compete with a Nimitz class. For what it’s worth, F-18s or any other aircraft for that matter don’t operate in a vacuum but in a coordinated fashion with all the other capabilities of the carrier and it’s escorts.
The carrier only carry’s F18’s so they literally do operate in a vacuum. Your working on some 1980’s style throw back that a Nimitz class is a balanced Airforce in its own right. That’s not been the case for decades. It’s 44 F18’s and Four AWACS Turbo props. That’s not a particularly menacing force to any peer adversary.
The ships is amazingly potent but they have been glacial in deployment of F18.
An America class with 20 F35’s is far more deadly than an Nimitz with F18’s with the possible excluding of anti shipping but that will rapidly change once F35B has LRASM.
“It’s 44 F18’s and Four AWACS Turbo props.”
Turbo props? Are you referring to the gold standard aew aircraft, the E2-D? Please enlighten me on which other navy can project force of that magnitude or sustain carrier combat operations across the world indefinitely?
By the way, the F-18 carries almost every air launched weapon in the usn arsenal including the lrasm, the aim174 and will carry the aim-260. You are also forgetting about the f-18 growlers but that’s another story.
“That’s not a particularly menacing force to any peer adversary.”
That’s mostly because the USN doesn’t yet have a peer adversary. The only country with any chance of matching the usn is China and it will take at least a couple more decades to achieve parity.
“An America class with 20 F35’s is far more deadly than an Nimitz with F18’s with the possible excluding of anti shipping but that will rapidly change once F35B has LRASM”
It’s statements like this that makes me think you’re just making stuff up as you go along. Do you have any idea about the sortie rates of a lightning carrier or for how long they are expected to sustain combat operations due to the logistics limitations inherent a much smaller conventionally powered vessel?
A single E-2D can control some thousands of miles of battlespace via Link-16. It will guide missiles for hundreds of miles beyond what the onboard radar of an F-18 or F-35 can see. Some that post on this site are clueless, and you’re one of them.
Yet here we are manufacturing F35 C’s(part off)on a steady drumbeat in the UK
Rooster to Maverick “It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot”…..
Small typo: the destroyer is the USS Jason Dunham, not Durham as stated in the text.