U.S. NAVY AIRCRAFT SET

The US Navy emerged from World War II as by far the most powerful navy in the world. And its strength was determined primarily by the fantastically developed in the years 1941-1945 naval aviation, which in May 1945 could operate with 28 aircraft carriers in the fleet and 71 escort aircraft carriers! Of course, the US Navy officers were well aware of this, which is why throughout the Cold War, up to the present day, they have striven and are still striving to keep the most powerful naval aviation forces in the line. After 1945, they were mainly modernized Essex-class aircraft carriers, which were withdrawn from the line on a large scale only at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. In addition, the US Navy introduced Midway-class aircraft carriers into service after 1945, and the great breakthrough was the launch of the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the fleet - the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which entered service in 1961. On the other hand, from the mid-1970s, the powerful Nimitz-class aircraft carriers began to enter service, and only in 2017 were replaced by Gerald R. Ford ships. Of course, along with the development of ships, the development of the machines that operated from them followed. Already in the 1950s, machines with piston engines gave way to jet machines - one of the first such machines was, for example, the North American FJ-2 Fury. During the Vietnam War (1964 / 1965-1975), the American airline was based on such successful aircraft as the F-4 Phantom, Grumman A-6 Intruder or Vought F-8 Crusader. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, the core of the US Navy's air force was already Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Boeing F / A-18 Hornet or Grumman E-2 Hawkeye early warning planes. Currently, in the second decade of the 21st century, the US Navy introduces the F-35 C Lightning II fighter aircraft into service and improves the existing F / A-18 E / F Super Hornet aircraft.