Changes on the USS America, an amphibious assault ship leader of the same class, are now complete. Tests with the variant Short Take Off and Vertical Landing the Joint Strike Fighter, will start next October, while crew training is still underway.
The major changes made in the 40 weeks of interventions, concerned the flight deck, so as to make it able to withstand the heat generated by the propulsion apparatus of the F-35B in vertical takeoffs and landings.
When taking off and landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier, the F-35B reaches the thrust of 186 kN, that is the same energy produced by an engine with afterburner inserted. Just to give an example: the most powerful engine ever installed on a Harrier (photo on the right) is the Pegasus 11-61 / Mk.107, capable of generating a thrust of 106 kN. Hence the need to externally cover all the decks of the ships that will host the F-35B.
The modifications concerned the addition of additional intercostal structural elements at the landing points, consequent displacement of the pre-existing elements (lighting, ventilation, piping) and redesign of some interior spaces. Extensive use of Thermion, an expensive heat-resistant non-slip coating, at strategic and operational points of the unit.
The USS Tripoli, it is still in the pipeline, but all the F-35B changes have already been implemented during the construction phase. On Tripoli, the bridge has been made more often and the structural supports have already been made.
The USS Tripoli will be delivered to the US Navy in the 2019.
(photo: Lockheed Martin / US DoD)
