Recommissioned US Navy ships

[Webstral]

Again, I'm no Navy guy, but I do believe that operating helicopters off a ship requires something very different than transporting helicopters on a ship. Some sort of sheltered work space would be required for maintenance. Other activities might well require below-decks space. HMS Ocean is a dedicated helicopter carrier. Her design reflects what the Royal Navy considers to be mandatory for sustained operations. Again, though, I have a very sketchy idea of what it takes to keep a dozen helos in the air on an ongoing basis.

[Olefin]

not talking about a sustained carrier - I mean an emergency carrier - i.e. you need make a landing and you need air support but no carrier available - a container ship could give you a way to get a few helos or VTOl aircraft there and be able to use them in the landing - obviously of limited utility for any sustained ops - but it woudlnt be sustained mainly for a limited duration for a specific mission

[James1978]

Back in the early 1980s, some British companies came up with SCADS - Shipborne Containerized Air Defense System. Basically it was a kit of 100 cargo containers pre-fitted for different mission support task, with a runway laid over the containers. They claimed a ship could be converted in 48 hours.

You can find an image of the proposal here.

The USN had a similar program called ARAPAHO that they tested in 1982 on the MV Export Leader. The deck was stressed to hold a CH-47. The RN leased the equipment in and installed in on the MV Astronomer for service in the Falklands.

RESOURCES
* ARAPAHO at GlobalSecurity.org

* Merchant Carriers and Sky Hooks, Flight Global 15 January 1983

* Arapaho Lives On, Flight Global, 11 June 1983

[raketenjagdpanzer]

The problem with "hey fly planes or helos off a cargo ship" is that your planes have to be navalized in the first place. Salt air does horrific things to unprotected metal surfaces...

[Olefin]

and there are lots of navalized helos and airplanes out there - and keep in mind they can be protected - the UK sent RAF Harriers to the Falklands on the Atlantic Conveyor and a RAF CH-47 - and they flew off quite well after the long trip

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by Olefin

and there are lots of navalized helos and airplanes out there - and keep in mind they can be protected - the UK sent RAF Harriers to the Falklands on the Atlantic Conveyor and a RAF CH-47 - and they flew off quite well after the long trip

Oh I know; they were wrapped up and so forth. I just meant that a given aircraft isn't necessarily fit for use on a water-borne platform just because it is physically capable of take-off and landing from a ship.

Although with that said in T2k you probably have more aircraft than you have pilots and fuel so something like an AH-6 or OH58D might well be considered "disposable"...

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by raketenjagdpanzer

Although with that said in T2k you probably have more aircraft than you have pilots and fuel so something like an AH-6 or OH58D might well be considered "disposable"...

I'd have thought it would be the other way around.
Aircraft require parts to be repaired. A Pilot can heal given time.
Aircraft require specialised fuel to function. A Pilot can eat rats if they have to.
A damaged aircraft in the air tends to fall out of the sky rather heavily. Pilots tend to have ejection seats and parachutes.

[boogiedowndonovan]

Originally Posted by James1978

The USN had a similar program called ARAPAHO that they tested in 1982 on the MV Export Leader. The deck was stressed to hold a CH-47. The RN leased the equipment in and installed in on the MV Astronomer for service in the Falklands.

RESOURCES
* ARAPAHO at GlobalSecurity.org

* Merchant Carriers and Sky Hooks, Flight Global 15 January 1983

* Arapaho Lives On, Flight Global, 11 June 1983

Don't know if anyone is familar with the old Harpoon computer game, but the North Atlantic convoy scenarios included Arapaho ships with ASW helos.