F-35B hot-downwash solved

After lots of work on the USS America (LHA 6), the Navy has finally figured out what kind of modifications it needs to make to its new large-deck amphibious landing ships to be able to handle the hot downwash from MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor and the vertical-lift F-35B Joint Strike Fighters. The ships are designed for MV-22s and the F-35B, but the Navy “didn’t know what all this heat was going to do to the ship,” said Capt. Chris Mercer, amphibious warfare manager. At issue is that some type aircraft produce powerfully-hot downwash directly onto the flight decks, which could cause decks to warp. The amphib program has since conducted numerous engineering and developmental tests to find out how to handle the downwash. The Navy will make environmental effect modification retrofits to get America up to code to host F-35Bs and Ospreys sometime this fall. For USS Tripoli (LHA 7), the Navy will be able to work some of those changes into baseline specifications because the ship is undergoing construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. LHA 8 will work changes even earlier into construction. It is in the design phase. (Source: Seapower Magazine 094/13/15)