USS Gerald R. Ford

USS Gerald R. Ford
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) after departing Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia – May 2, 2023
History
United States
NameGerald R. Ford
NamesakeGerald R. Ford
Awarded10 September 2008
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding
Cost$12.8 billion + $4.7 billion R&D (estimated)[1]
Laid down13 November 2009[2]
Launched11 October 2013[3]
Sponsored bySusan Ford[4]
Christened9 November 2013[5]
Acquired31 May 2017[6]
Commissioned22 July 2017[7]
HomeportNorfolk, Virginia
MottoIntegrity at the helm
Statusin active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class & typeGerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier
DisplacementAbout 100,000 long tons (100,000 tonnes) (full load)[8]
Length1,106 ft (337 m)[9]
Beam
  • 134 ft (41 m) (waterline)
  • 256 ft (78 m) (flight deck)
Height250 ft (76 m)
Draft39 ft (12 m)[10]
Decks25
Installed powerTwo Bechtel A1B PWR nuclear reactors, HEU 93.5%[11][12]
PropulsionFour shafts
SpeedIn excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range≈25 years before mid-life refuel[13][14]
Complement4539 (including air wing)[15]
Sensors &
processing systems
  • AN/SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar (MFR) X band active electronically scanned array
  • AN/SPY-4 Volume Search Radar (VSR) S band active electronically scanned array
Armament
  • Surface-to-air missiles:
  • 2 × RIM-162 ESSM launchers
  • 2 × RIM-116 RAM
  • Guns:
  • 3 × Phalanx CIWS
  • 4 × Mk 38 25 mm Machine Gun Systems
  • 4 × M2 .50 Cal. (12.7 mm) machine guns
Aircraft carried75+[16]
Aviation facilities1,092 ft × 256 ft (333 m × 78 m) flight deck

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the lead ship of her class. The ship is named after the 38th president of the United States, Gerald Ford, whose World War II naval service included combat duty aboard the light aircraft carrier Monterey in the Pacific Theater.[17]

Construction began on 11 August 2005, when Northrop Grumman held a ceremonial steel cut for a 15-ton plate that forms part of a side shell unit of the carrier.[18] The keel of Gerald R. Ford was laid down on 13 November 2009.[2] She was christened on 9 November 2013.[5] Gerald R. Ford entered the fleet replacing the decommissioned USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which ended her 51 years of active service in December 2012.[19][20] Originally scheduled for delivery in 2015,[21] Gerald R. Ford was delivered to the Navy on 31 May 2017[6] and formally commissioned by President Donald Trump on 22 July 2017.[7][22][23] She departed Naval Station Norfolk on her first deployment on 2 May 2023.[24] As of August 2025, she is the world's largest aircraft carrier and the largest warship ever constructed.[25][26]

  1. ^ O'Rourke, Ronald (22 October 2013). "Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2014. FY14 cost of CVN-79 (procured in FY13) in then-year dollars; the same budget puts the cost of CVN-78 (procured in FY08) at $12,829.3 million but that includes ~$3.3bn of development costs. CVN-80 is estimated at $13,874.2m, making the total cost of the first three Fords $38,041.9m, or $12.68bn each.
  2. ^ a b "Ford Keel Laid for Future Carrier, Class". Navy Times. 16 November 2009. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Newport News Shipbuilding to Flood Dry Dock and Float Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)" (Press release). Huntingdon Ingalls Industries. 9 October 2013. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  4. ^ Murray, Dave (13 November 2009). "Gerald R. Ford ship ceremony brings Susan Ford Bales, Family to Newport News, Virginia". The Grand Rapids Press. Archived from the original on 15 November 2009.
  5. ^ a b "PCU Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) Christening Ceremony". Navy Live. 8 November 2013. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Huntington Ingalls Industries Delivers Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) To U.S. Navy" (Press release). Huntingdon Ingalls Industries. 1 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  7. ^ a b "President Trump Commissions USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)" (Press release). United States Navy. 22 July 2017. NNS170722-01. Archived from the original on 23 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Aircraft Carriers - CVN". Fact File. United States Navy. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Command History & Facts". Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic. US Navy. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  10. ^ "USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)". U.S. Carriers. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  11. ^ "US study of reactor and fuel types to enable naval reactors to shift from HEU fuel". fissilematerials.org. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Validation of the Use of Low Enriched Uranium as a Replacement for Highly Enriched Uranium in US Submarine Reactors" (PDF). dspace.mit.edu. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Engineering Destruction: The Terrifying and Awesome Power of The USS Gerald R. Ford". engineering.com. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Video: Nuclear Vs Diesel Aircraft Carriers – How do they Compare?". themaritimepost.com. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Gerald R. Ford Class Aircraft Carrier". Military.com. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Aircraft Carriers – CVN". U.S. Navy – Fact file. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  17. ^ "Navy Names New Aircraft Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford". U.S. Department of Defense. Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs). 16 January 2007. Archived from the original on 14 February 2007.
  18. ^ "USS Gerald R. Ford CVN 78". U.S. Carriers. 8 March 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  19. ^ O'Rourke, Ronald (25 May 2005). "Navy CVN-21 Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress". Naval Historical Center. Department of the Navy. Archived from the original on 1 December 2006.
  20. ^ "USS Enterprise: Past Present And Future". The Official US Navy Blog. US Navy. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference 5.1Bcontract was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Jenkins, Aric (22 July 2017). "The USS Gerald Ford Is the Most Advanced Aircraft Carrier in the World". Fortune. Archived from the original on 23 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  23. ^ LaGrone, Sam (18 January 2017). "Delay in Aircraft Carrier Ford Testing Could Compress Workups for First Deployment". USNI News. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  24. ^ Laroisa, Aaron-Matthew (2 May 2023). "Aircraft Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Departs Norfolk for Worldwide Deployment". USNI. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  25. ^ Szondy, David (22 July 2017). "World's largest supercarrier USS Gerald R Ford commissioned". New Atlas. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  26. ^ "Up close with the world's largest warship". navylookout.com. 19 November 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.