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Nimitz Class Aircraft
Carrier
The Nimitz class supercarriers
are the largest capital ships in the world.
All of the ships in this class are nuclear-powered
carrier vessels. These ships are numbered
with consecutive hull numbers starting with
CVN 68. The letters "CVN" denote
the type of ship: CV is the hull classification
symbol for Aircraft Carriers, and N to indicate
nuclear-powered propulsion. The number after
the "CVN" means that this is the
68th "CV", or aircraft carrier.
Nimitz (CVN-68), the
lead ship of the class, was commissioned in
1975. As of 2006, George H. W. Bush (CVN-77),
the tenth and last of the class, is being
built by Northrop Grumman Newport News and
will enter service in 2008. Bush will be the
first transition ship to a new class of carriers
(CVN-21) to start construction in 2007 and
will incorporate new technologies including
a new multi-function radar system, volume
search radar and open architecture information
network, and a significantly reduced crew
requirement. To lower costs some new technologies
were incorporated into Ronald Reagan, though
not nearly as many as will be involved with
Bush.
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