Iowa Class Battleship - 1980s Refit

1980s Refit

In the 1980s, as part of President Ronald Reagan's plan to rebuild the U.S. military and create a 600-ship Navy—which would counter the new Soviet Kirov-class battlecruisers—all four of the battleships were reactivated and modernized. During this reactivation, several concepts entailing removal of the aft 16 turret were considered by the Navy, including Martin Marietta's proposal to replace the turret with servicing facilities for 12 AV-8B Harrier STOVL jumpjets, Charles Myers' proposal for replacement of the turret with vertical launch systems for missiles and a flight deck for Marine helicopters. Naval Institute Proceedings proposed a canted flight deck (complete with a steam catapult) and arrestor wires to operate F/A-18 Hornet fighters. Plans for these conversions were dropped in 1984, but each battleship was overhauled to burn navy distillate fuel and modernized to carry electronic warfare suites, close-in weapon systems (CIWS) for self-defense, and missiles. After recommissioning, the modernized battleships operated as centerpieces of their own battleship battle groups (BBBGs), consisting of one Ticonderoga-class cruiser, one Kidd-class destroyer or Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, one Spruance-class destroyer, three Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates and one support ship, such as a fleet oiler.