They’re too big to sail the Great Lakes, but the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers generate millions of dollars in revenue for Wisconsin companies that help build and support the world’s largest warships.
This week, Rick Giannini, president of Milwaukee Valve Co., is headed to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Navy and members of Congress about funding for the aircraft carrier fleet that’s been criticized as being outdated and vulnerable to attacks from China.
Giannini is chairman of the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition, a national group of businesses that benefit from the ships that are floating cities of 4,500 sailors and military aircraft.
The debate over the future of aircraft carriers has long-term implications for at least 17 Wisconsin companies supplying products including valves, pumps and controls for the world’s most technologically advanced ships.
About 1,400 Wisconsin jobs are supported by the Navy’s aircraft carrier supply chain, which had a $137 million economic impact in the state between 2011 and 2015, according to the Carrier Industrial Base Coalition.
Milwaukee Valve Co., in New Berlin, is among 1,100 businesses from 46 states and 279 congressional districts contributing parts, services and support to the construction and maintenance of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.
A single Nimitz-class carrier has more than 12,000 Milwaukee Valve Co. valves on it, used for many purposes such as controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid and drinking water.
The Navy represents about 25% of Milwaukee Valve Co.’s business, and the largest piece of that comes from aircraft carriers.
“Literally half of what we do in Wisconsin is Navy work,” Giannini said, adding that the company has more than 700 employees and a foundry in Prairie du Sac where its bronze valves are cast.
New carrier is years away
Aircraft carriers are often the first warships to be called upon when there’s a military crisis and the U.S. government wants to demonstrate its presence.
By law the Navy is required to have 11 aircraft carriers, although under a temporary waiver from Congress the fleet stands at 10 ships.
The next carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, is expected to be delivered to the Navy this year. However, it could be a few more years before it’s ready for deployment.
It costs about $13 billion to build one of the new Ford-class carriers. Giannini and other coalition members are meeting with the Navy and members of Congress to ask for uninterrupted funding for the program as older carriers are overhauled and new ones are scheduled for construction.
The Navy could save up to $500 million by allowing the advance purchase of materials for the next two Ford-class carriers: Enterprise, and the yet-to-be-named CVN 81, according to Giannini.
The suppliers aren’t asking the government for money that’s not budgeted. Instead, they want funding early enough in the procurement process to allow them to buy materials in bulk, for several ships at a time.
“We hope this will end the uncertainty around the process and provide suppliers like us with greater confidence in planning,” Giannini said.
However, critics of the Navy’s aircraft carrier program, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have said the behemoth warships could be outdated and vulnerable to attacks as China and other nations develop long-range missiles.
Chinese “carrier-killing” missiles could reach one of the ships 900 miles from shore, so the ship couldn’t get close enough to unleash its firepower on an enemy, according to Jerry Hendrix, a military strategist at the Center for a New American Security, in Washington, D.C.
“John McCain is right to critically examine the rising costs and declining utility of the carrier,” Hendrix wrote in a recent CNAS report.
As a way to keep carriers relevant in modern warfare, the Navy could equip the ships with aerial combat drones capable of flying 1,500 miles to strike a target, according to Hendrix.
Faster development of carrier-based, unmanned attack aircraft is the right move for the Navy and the nation, he wrote.
Backers defend carriers
New threats to carriers should be taken seriously, but not having the fleet would be enormously dangerous to the nation’s defense, said Michael Groothousen, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, originally from Milwaukee, who commanded the USS Harry S. Truman from March 2002 to July 2004.
An aircraft carrier brings “the most bang for the buck” to a military crisis, Groothousen said, including attacks that can be launched far from shore rather than a military base in a foreign country.
A carrier also is useful for humanitarian missions, such as providing medical assistance and emergency supplies after a tsunami, according to Groothousen.
“You can make millions of gallons of fresh water a day on one of these ships. There are things you can do with a carrier that are above and beyond combat,” he said.
More than 1,000 feet in length, and too big for the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes, a U.S. Navy Nimitz-class carrier is being eclipsed in size by the upcoming Ford class of carriers.
Since they use nuclear power, the ships are capable of operating more than 20 years without refueling. An aircraft carrier has an expected life span of 50 years, but equipment has to be updated and overhauled before then.
Lovejoy Controls Corp. of Waukesha has modernized turbines on the Nimitz carriers, improving the equipment’s reliability and performance.
“It’s a good chunk of our business because there are six turbines on each carrier. I had the privilege of going on sea trials on the George H.W. Bush … that was a fantastic experience,” said company president Kim Lovejoy.
Oilgear Co. of Milwaukee makes hydraulic pumps used on the aircraft elevator system on the Gerald R. Ford.
Val-Fab Inc., a metal fabricator in Neenah, does aircraft carrier work for General Atomics, a California firm that’s building the aircraft launch system for the upcoming USS John F. Kennedy.
The technical requirements are demanding, said Val-Fab owner Keith Picard.
“It’s a pride thing, too. No doubt about it,” he said.
Many things on an aircraft carrier are supersized, including the ship’s horn made by Kahlenberg Industries in Two Rivers.
The horn weighs about 250 pounds and has a piston that travels up and down 130 times a second. Every U.S. Navy aircraft carrier has a Kahlenberg horn that sends out a 147-decibel sound blast to alert other vessels of the ship’s presence.
If by some chance you couldn’t see a massive aircraft carrier coming your way, you certainly could hear it, said Erik Kahlenberg, president of the company, which has been making ship whistles and horns for more than a century.
Wisconsin suppliers
The debate over the future of aircraft carriers has long-term implications for at least 17 Wisconsin companies that supply products and services for the world’s most technologically advanced ships.
Some of the companies include:
?DRS Power & Control Technologies of Milwaukee
?Oilgear Co. of Milwaukee
?Lovejoy Controls Corp. of Waukesha
?Milwaukee Valve Co. of New Berlin
?Kahlenberg Industries of Two Rivers
?Val-Fab Inc. of Neenah
?Legacy Power Conversion Inc. of Necedah
?Superior-Lidgerwood-Mundy Corp. of Superior
?Waukesha Bearings Corp. of Pewaukee
?Appleton Marine Inc. of Appleton
?Cordstrap USA of Sturtevant
?Coltec Industries of Beloit
?Airsan Corp. of Milwaukee
?Airgas Safety Inc., a Pennsylvania firm with Wisconsin operations
?MetalTek International of Waukesha
?Sentry Equipment Corp. of Oconomowoc
?Uline Inc. of Pleasant Prairie
