What branch of the US Military uses the most fuel? (Just saw on Jeporday, more than all the other combined)?

Question

I just saw this on Jeporday and the correct answer was the US Air Force(I was in the Navy) and one guys said US Navy. Alex Trebak said most people think that because of the ships but then he said most are nuclear powered. That is wrong, there are 2 non-nuclear powered aircraft carriers. 10 are nucs and then the submarines but there are WAY more destroyers and cruisers and frigates. The US navy has WAY more non-nuc ships that nuc ships. I think Jeporday was wrong?

Think about it, the main part of the Navy is ships, the main ships is a carrier and they carry PLANES. They are always flying and we always had Helo on my ship anytime of the day. The ships suck down fuel and even nuc carriers still give fuel to the planes. JP-5 is the fuel. I know they are wrong becuase the Navy has almost the same amount of planes and the best pilots. They have to land a jet on a football field size area.

Answer 1

Sorry guys, Jeapordy was right:
http://www.peak-oil-news.info/military-oil-usage-statistics/

I was surprised by this question as well. At first I thought "they must mean 'jet fuel,' but it turns out no, it's all types of liquid fuel, including JP-5/8, DFM and diesel.

Here's my thoughts on why:
1. Aircraft take way more fuel to stay in the air and the bigger and heavier the aircraft, the more fuel it uses.
2. Ships try to conserve fuel by loitering when they can and use thier best economic cruising speed when operations permit.
3. The AF is responsible for all the air lift and refueling missions. They haul a whole lot of bullets, beans and bandaids all over the world 24/7.
4. The AF logs many times more flight hours than the Navy, mostly in really big planes of the "C" and "KC" variety.
5. Navy jets are refueled in the air by AF tankers. The S-3 is gone and the FA-18 buddy refuling will anly account for a very small amount of fuel.

Alex said "many are nuclear powered," not "most."

I'm not saying Jeapordy is perfect, but PLEASE do at least a little reasearch before answering these things.

Jay
LCDR, USN

Answer 2

Let me answer this question. There is only 1 conventional (non-nuclear powered) aircraft carrier left in the US Navy and it's on the decom block as we type.

The US Navy has a larger air force than does the US Air Force. The US Navy flies more missions than the US Air Force. With that being said, the Air Force flies more miles then the Navy does. They don't have a mobile air field like the Navy does. I also believe Jeopardy was wrong. There is absolutely no way the US Air Force uses more fuel than the US Navy. They don't even use more JP5 than the Navy since some Naval ships are powered by that fuel in their gas turbines. The Navy has 100+ warships at sea burning 1000+ gallons of fuel per minute, it adds up very quickly. Yes, the Air Force jets are gas hogs but they're a lot more fuel effecient than a US Navy DD or FFG.

Answer 3

Ships use fuel, but as far as it goes, they are fairly efficient. The air force has many more aircraft than the navy and many of them are not very efficient. Something like a B-52, or a F-15 must use enormous amounts of fuel in a short period of time. And they have many aircraft in the air at all times.

I'd say Jeopardy was right, but I'm sure the Navy is second on the list.

Answer 4

Not sure about the fuel use part but They are way off the mark on most of the ships being Nuclear Powered. Nuclear Powered ships make up only a small percentage of out total ship roster.

And those conventional powered ships are some serious gas hogs. It's not how many miles to the gallon you get. It's how many hundreds of gallons to the mile! and the average ship steams some 30,000 to 35,000 miles on a single 6 month deployment. (thats a West coast navy westpac deployment to the Persian Gulf)

Answer 5

When aircraft are launched from a bird farm, they commonly refuel from an Air Force KC-130 tanker. This fuel may be accounted for as fuel used by the Air Force. But I agree with you...it seems to me that the Navy would be the biggest consumer. And one more thing, nuclear fuel is fuel too, right. I did not hear Alex differentiate.

Answer 6

The Air Force definitly uses a whole lot of gas. While at Kadena there was ALWAYS something taking off or landing. And if that wasn't happening they were doing engine runs on the flightline or in the hush house. Very loud place to be. I'd have to say the Air Force probably has the fuel consumption of most smaller countries in the world, and would easily beat every branch of the military any day of the week.

Answer 7

Jeopardy was totally wrong. In the surface fleet only the 10 aircraft carriers are nuclear. All the Virginia Class nuclear powered cruisers have been decommissioned. If you add the nuclear powered submarines that adds up to about 20% of the fleet.

Answer 8

I saw that program and according to their experts the Air Force uses more fuel, the Navy uses fossil fuel, Nuc

Answer 9

Most question on Yahoo! Answers can be researched on the internet or are readily available from coursework such as Math, Physics, Chemistry, etc...

I think to get the correct answer would require going through budgets and line items for each branch of the military which is something not readily available. I am not even sure how Jeopardy researches a question/answer like that.

Answer 10

IT IS THE NAVY

those ships use a lot of fuel

you should email jeopardy about that question and ask them whats up

i know it is wrong