USS Gerald Ford: The US Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier deployed for the first time

CNN
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American Navy The newest and most advanced aircraft carrier It departed on its first deployment Tuesday from Norfolk, Virginia, aiming to put the ship in its stride and practice exercises with allies in North America and Europe.

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford is the first new aircraft carrier built in more than 40 years, according to the US Navy. Construction of the carrier officially began in November 2009 and was commissioned in 2017 by former President Donald Trump, according to a US Navy statement.

The ship is the first aircraft carrier of the Ford class. The Navy began building the next two Ford-class carriers, the USS Kennedy and the USS Enterprise.

The aircraft carrier has new, advanced technology including “nearly three times the amount of electric power,” compared to Nimitz-class carriers and uses the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, according to the Navy.

The EMALS system uses electrical power to launch aircraft from the ship in place of the previous steam catapult system. A Navy official said the system puts less stress on planes as they launch from the carrier and will allow less time between launches.

The carrier also has a dual-band radar, which is a more advanced radar system. It is the only front-class carrier that will have this type of radar, the official said.

The US aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford and the carrier group will work with allies and partners in the Second and Sixth Fleet areas of responsibility in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, a US Navy official said. The official added that the deployment would be shorter than a standard six-month deployment.

“This deployment represents an opportunity to drive the ball down the field and demonstrate the advantage that Ford and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8 brings to the future of naval aviation, to the region and to our allies and partners,” Carrier Strike Group 12 Commander Admiral Gregory Hoffman said in a statement.

A US Navy statement said the deployment would include “approximately 9,000 personnel from nine countries, 20 ships, and 60 aircraft.” The countries participating in the exercise include the United States, CanadaDenmark, Finland, France, GermanyThe statement added that the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

A second naval official said that while the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford deployed on Tuesday, other ships in the carrier strike group will depart to join Ford on Wednesday. This is common for such deployments.