Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Has Lot to Prove
12/12/2022
By Sean Carberry
Ordered in 2008 and commissioned in 2017, the USS Gerald R. Ford embarked on its maiden deployment in October 2022, years behind schedule and billions over budget. The Navy is hoping that’s all water under the bridge as the first-in-class carrier demonstrates capabilities that could prove critical for a possible conflict with China.
The Ford-class carrier shares a hull and some propulsion technology with its Nimitz-class predecessors, but beyond that, the critical systems such as launching and arresting gear, elevators, electrical generation, radar and other technologies are new.
The Ford was conceived in the early 2000s to address “the somewhat incipient Chinese threat,” and provide a platform for “a high-end war against a really capable competitor,” said Bryan Clark, senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute.
The requirements for the new carrier class included being able to generate more sorties, launch and recover a wider range of aircraft and provide power for new radars and defensive weapons, some yet to be developed.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2022/12/12/navy-newest-aircraft-carrier-has-lot-to-prove
