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A U.S. aircraft carrier is operating in the Arctic Circle for the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) and escorts entered the Norwegian Sea today.

The Truman Carrier Strike Group has been operating in the Northern Atlantic Ocean for the last month, working with the Royal Canadian Navy and then stopping in Iceland and the United Kingdom recently ahead of its upcoming participation in the NATO exercise Trident Juncture 2018.

Truman’s excursion north of the Arctic Circle is the first since USS America (CV-66) operated there in September 1991 during NATO exercise North Star, according to a Navy news release.

“We are unbelievably excited to be operating in the Norwegian Sea,” Truman Commanding Officer Capt. Nick Dienna said in the news release.
“It has been over three decades since carrier aviation has been tested by this environment, and, despite the arduous weather and sea conditions, these men and women are demonstrating this ship can bring a full-spectrum of capabilities to bear anywhere in the world.”

As part of Trident Juncture, which takes place in and around Norway, the Truman Strike Group will “expand its compliment of capabilities off the coast of Norway, performing air, surface and subsurface operations while being confronted by the trio of freezing temperatures, fierce winds, and unpredictable seas.” The strike group will practice these skills on its own ahead of the formal NATO exercise, according to the news release.

The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready is also in the area – though not quite to the Arctic Circle – for a Trident Juncture kickoff event in Iceland. The ships and Marines from 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit were supposed to conduct a cold-weather amphibious landing in Iceland as a practice ahead of the main event in Norway, but rough seas slowed the sail to Iceland and dangerous surf conditions canceled the planned landing. The ARG/MEU instead conducted an air raid near the Keflavik International Airport in southwestern Iceland and will depart for Norway in the coming days.

Trident Juncture 2018 continues to grow in size, with now more than 50,000 personnel involved in what has become the largest NATO exercise in decades.

“Trident Juncture represents the best of NATO – a coalition of allies and partners working toward the shared interests of lasting peace and economic prosperity in the European region,” Carrier Strike Group Eight Commander Rear Adm. Gene Black said in the Navy news release.
“This exercise is also a fantastic opportunity to learn from our Allies on their home turf.”

“The combined and bilateral operations we have conducted in the region over the last several months embody the U.S.’s commitment to our NATO allies and partners,” Black continued. “Together, our maritime partnership creates a global network of navies capable of uniting against any potential threat.”

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Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Aircrew have survival dry suits but depending on water temps, survival is still measured in minutes instead of hours.

The word on the street when they were developing the F-35 (despite it being sad that there would never again be a single engine aircraft on a carrier) was engine monitoring systems were so much better you'd lose fewer F35s than current twin engine jets.

Of course that doesn't take non-maintenance failures into account, like FOD on the catapult, etc, etc. Shit that shouldn't happen but invariably does sometimes.

I'll take a twin engine fighter any day off the carrier.

quote:

Originally posted by gw3971:
So how long does it take to get a helicopter up and flying to pick up the aircrew if they should have to punch out after a bad landing on the ship?

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Originally posted by sourdough44:
Hey, I was on CV-66 for ‘North Star’ in 91. I have the ‘blue nose’ certificate framed in the basement. We came back after two months past Iceland then near Norway, some R&R then a 6 month Med/IO cruise.

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Two of the three ships in the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group had to return to port in Reykjavik, Iceland, after heavy seas en route to Norway injured a few sailors and caused damage to one ship’s well deck.

According to a Navy news release, “the amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44) experienced heavy seas during the evening of Monday, October 22, 2018. As a result, the ship’s Landing Craft Utilities (LCU) and well deck experienced damage. The Gunston Hall is in port Reykjavik, Iceland for further assessment.”

Amphibious transport dock USS New York (LPD-21) also returned to port as a precautionary measure, according to the release.

U.S. Naval Forces Europe spokesman Capt. John Perkins told USNI News that the few sailors who were injured during the heavy seas suffered minor injuries, were treated and have returned to duty.

USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), the largest ship in the group, did not turn back and is continuing on to Norway for the Oct. 25 start of the live portion of NATO exercise Trident Juncture 2018. USNI News was in Iceland to observe the exercise.

....

While aboard Iwo Jima, several officials told USNI News that the Navy and Marine Corps were aware of their inexperience in cold weather conditions and the heavy seas of the North Atlantic and therefore were practicing good risk management – noting this was an exercise and not an actual contingency and they didn’t want anyone getting hurt.

quote:

Originally posted by gw3971:

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Aircrew have survival dry suits but depending on water temps, survival is still measured in minutes instead of hours.

The word on the street when they were developing the F-35 (despite it being sad that there would never again be a single engine aircraft on a carrier) was engine monitoring systems were so much better you'd lose fewer F35s than current twin engine jets.

Of course that doesn't take non-maintenance failures into account, like FOD on the catapult, etc, etc. Shit that shouldn't happen but invariably does sometimes.

I'll take a twin engine fighter any day off the carrier.

So how long does it take to get a helicopter up and flying to pick up the aircrew if they should have to punch out after a bad landing on the ship?

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
Hey, I was on CV-66 for ‘North Star’ in 91. I have the ‘blue nose’ certificate framed in the basement. We came back after two months past Iceland then near Norway, some R&R then a 6 month Med/IO cruise.

While in the Indian Ocean we crossed the equator, a bit more of an event than the Artic Circle. Right now the USS AMERICA sits on the bottom of the Atlantic.