USS RONALD REAGAN:
While each ship of the Nimitz class has evolved into a mightier ship than the one before, USS RONALD REAGAN takes a giant leap on the evolutionary scale. Possessing the latest in technology and fundamental changes in structural design, the RONALD REAGAN provides more than a glimpse into the future of carriers.
Building the USS RONALD REAGAN brought changes to the world of carrier design and construction at Newport News Shipbuilding as well, from employing high-tech, three-dimensional design concepts to finding new and better ways to construct this mammoth ship.
Not since USS NIMITZ, first in the class, has more money been allocated to the research and design of a carrier. "NNS and the Navy spent substantial time defining the ship and creating windows of opportunity for installing emerging technology up front," says Scott Stabler, vice president, Aircraft Carrier Construction. "Flexibility was the key. We took steps early on to ensure we would be able to deliver a ship eight years after contract award with the latest technology available. This approach has not only worked for the USS RONALD REAGAN, it also set the stage for even more transition on the last of the Nimitz class, CVN 77."
Evolutions in Design
For the first time in carrier design history, Newport News Shipbuilding employees were able to "step aboard" sections of the USS RONALD REAGAN and traverse its corridors long before they began building it.
"When certain areas and systems were designed for USS RONALD REAGAN, we used three-dimensional computer product models," says Vice President of Engineering Bob Gunter. "The product models let us simulate how the ship spaces would be built and demonstrate these spaces to our construction trades and the Navy, giving our customers input like never before."
Special integrated teams of NNS designers, engineers, production employees and the Navy all worked together on the design of USS RONALD REAGAN. Three-dimensional representations of the ship and its components let them iron out potential problems in design rather than during construction and allowed all stakeholders an important voice in the project.
While NNS has used product modeling on Los Angeles- and Seawolf- class submarines and commercial ships, this was the first application for carriers. Product models were used to redesign the island, combat system spaces and select piping areas on USS RONALD REAGAN, says Gunter. "We made significant changes that meant a better ship layout and accessibility for the crew to perform future maintenance."
Evolutions in Construction
An aircraft carrier takes millions of man-hours and years to build. More importantly, it takes state-of-the-art technology and the dedicated talent of literally thousands of men and women to bring this mammoth ship to life.
As each section of the ship is built, it is joined to yet another section and another, until giant sections weighing hundreds of tons, called superlifts, are placed in the dry dock. NNS has used this modular technique for decades. With USS RONALD REAGAN, superlifts grew even larger, nearing the maximum capacity of Newport News Shipbuilding's 900-ton crane. This meant RONALD REAGAN came together with fewer lifts than ever before in carrier construction history.
One of those superlifts, the 650-ton island, visually shows the evolution of the aircraft carrier taking place. A new upper stage weapons elevator, a new mainmast, a new aft mast and a new topside antennae arrangement make USS RONALD REAGAN's island markedly different from previous carrier islands. The island has one less deck, while maintaining the same overall height, which makes for a roomier interior and space for future technology and larger windows for improved visibility.
How USS RONALD REAGAN's island was assembled was a first as well. Previous carrier islands were built in two large sections next to the dry dock, joined together and lifted onto the ship. USS RONALD REAGAN's island was assembled, in its entirety, inside NNS' Modular Outfitting Facility, then transported as one large section to the dry dock.
"Working in an enclosed environment eliminated exposure to the elements and because the island's design was done using product modeling, for the first time the company was able to develop a detailed construction plan that guided builders from start to finish. And the exacting accuracy of the computer product model meant the best-ever precision cuts of steel for a carrier island house," says Director of New Carrier Construction Harold Paxton. "This reduced the cost and time to build the island and resulted in moving even more of the ship's construction work into the shops."
The island, however, is not the only major structural change on USS RONALD REAGAN. The ship has a bulbous bow rather than the standard 'V' shaped bow. According to Construction Superintendent Bob Hickman, "The new bow design makes the forward end of the ship more stable, especially during rough seas. USS RONALD REAGAN's 722-ton bow is also larger than the bows of its predecessors."
Other advancements in construction technology also have had their impact, such as with the struts that support the propeller shafts. These struts previously have been aligned manually, a man-hour intensive process. On the USS RONALD REAGAN however, research and collaboration between engineering and production led to the use of laser technology to align the system.
Photogrammetry, the science of taking measurements from a photograph or other image, was used to provide digital images of USS RONALD REAGAN's hull curvature. This allowed the guide rails for the aircraft elevator to be machined specifically to this curvature and welded directly to the ship. In the past, rails were first mounted to machined pieces called 'ears', then bolted to the ship's hull. "The Trades Division came up with the idea to eliminate the ears," says Paxton. "It simplified the process and eliminated man-hours."
Another technology coup, a cable-pulling machine, improved the installation of more than seven million feet of cable on the ship once hefted and pulled by electricians. And a new fiber optics backbone network was installed making USS RONALD REAGAN's communications systems ever-adaptable to emerging technology.
Evolution Continues
What has begun on the USS RONALD REAGAN is launching the future of aircraft carriers. Many who participated in the design, engineering and construction of the RONALD REAGAN are now employing those concepts on the design of CVN 77, the last Nimitz-class carrier, as well as CVNX 1, the first of the new carrier class.
CVN 77 designs are improving the carrier's jet fuel delivery system and combat suite. A focus on the ship's life cycle costs, which began on the USS RONALD REAGAN, will broaden on CVN 77. "And all of these changes will be rolled over to CVNX, where even more significant design changes are taking place," says Gunter.
"RONALD REAGAN was the carrier that started the whole company looking at changes for aircraft carriers," says Matt Mulherin, NNS' CVNX Program Director. "We're using the REAGAN team's approach to design, more detailed level of planning, benchmarking their savings in manufacturing, and of course, using 3-D computer product modeling to design nearly 40 percent of CVNX 1."
And in just a few months after christening of the USS RONALD REAGAN, the conceptual development of carriers and their systems will take place in the new state-of-the-art facility in Newport News, Virginia, called the Virginia Advanced Shipbuilding and Carrier Integration Center, or VASCIC. The Center is the result of a partnership between Newport News Shipbuilding, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the City of Newport News. In this 240,000-square-foot office and laboratory complex, more than 400 people from the Virginia shipbuilding industry, the U.S. Navy, Virginia universities and other high-tech companies will gather, focusing their combined talents on the integration of systems and the application of emerging technology onto future aircraft carriers.
No doubt, the sailors of the USS RANGER felt the same way the USS RONALD REAGAN sailors will feel; that wherever in the world they may drop anchor, they stand in defense of their great nation onboard the most technologically advanced ship of their time. They will know they are history in the making.
