Thee USS Gerald R. Ford Ready to Be Deployed in 2022: The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is finally set to be deployable this year.
One of the main advantages of this new carrier is that it will increase the rate of sorties flown by 30 percent. The carrier achieves this improved rate by using magnetic motors to lift up to 24,000 pounds of munitions up and down rather than depending on the old cable elevators that the Nimitz-class uses. Also, the new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) puts aircraft into the air faster than the dated steam catapult launcher.
USS Gerald R. Ford Is Itching to Get to Sea for an Official Deployment
The $13 billion USS Gerald R. Ford is the lead ship of the class. There have been some delays along the way due to technological advancements that have never been tried before, but the Navy is confident about its timeline now.
Rear Admiral Gregory Huffman, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 12 who will lead the Ford carrier strike group on its first deployment, told USNI News in October that “Everything is on track. We’re still looking to get out as scheduled after the six-month availability. No big show-stoppers that they’ve come across at all. So very, very positive news coming from the captain and from the shipyard. And then as we come out of that, I think we’re going to be set very well to get back in that operational mindset and get ready for the deployment.”
Arresting Gear Is Improved
Launching and arresting aircraft, the carrier’s main duty has been improved. It will now take less maintenance and fewer personnel for flight deck operations. The Advanced Arresting Gear, which arrests airplanes when they land, replaces the hydraulic Mark 7 arresting gear. This is a critical improvement that will lead to more speed and efficiency top-side.
USS Gerald R. Ford Has Passed Shock Trials
The Ford has shown its survivability by passing shock trials last year – a testing period when 40,000 pounds of explosives are blasted near the carrier to assess whether the vessel can take a punch. It also finished a crew certification process in November. Last month the crew passed tests on board “targeting medical response, seamanship and navigation, and ship-wide damage control and tactical fighting drills,” according to the Navy Times in January.
Busy Flight Deck, Lower Maintenance Periods, and Improved Survivability
The island on the Ford is smaller which allows more aircraft on deck to permit additional assets to get in the air quickly. The ship should be able to stay at sea longer without as much time docked for maintenance compared to the Nimitz-class. The carrier will have improved fire-fighting systems and a new hull design for better survivability. Another plus for safety is that the new elevators move on steel rails with electromagnets so there is no oil or hydraulic fluid that could become a fire hazard.
The EMALS system will hurl all kinds of different aircraft into the air – from drones to heavy warplanes. The Ford has two nuclear reactors and four shafts that push out a top speed of over 30 knots. It’s about the length of three football fields. The displacement is 100,000 tons. There are 4,550 sailors on board and at least 75 aircraft. The Ford is armed with the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, the Rolling Airframe Missile, and the Close-in Weapons System (CIWS).
ATLANTIC OCEAN (Oct. 29, 2019) USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) conducts high-speed turns in the Atlantic Ocean. Ford is at sea conducting sea trials following the in port portion of its 15 month post-shakedown availability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Connor Loessin)
USS Gerald R. Ford: Where to Next?
It will be interesting to see where the first Ford carrier battle group will be deployed. The Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf is always a possibility as Iran is working toward a nuclear device and the Houthi-rebels in Yemen are threatening American personnel stationed in the United Arab Emirates. East Asia would be another zone of interest as the Taiwan Strait becomes a flashpoint in a potential conflict between China and Taiwan.
The Navy has waited on the Ford for years, and it is good to see that despite some delays, the aircraft carrier is ready to go to war.
Now serving as 1945’s Defense and National Security Editor, Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood.
Jamie
February 17, 2022 at 10:00 pm
Ford does not deserve a carrier named after him, buy ‘Bull’ Halsey does. It’s bad enough that a carrier was named after Truman, who was arguably an idiot. Our carriers deserve to named after warriors, not lightweights.
Steven
February 17, 2022 at 11:58 pm
The Ford can certainly do a lot. Hopefully it can retrieve aircraft, considering the recent loss of an F35C off a carrier, I think in the South China Sea.
China is trying to get salvage the aircraft before the US, since they want to get their hands on the actual hardware, although I think they already hacked the plans when the aircraft was in development.
Considering the cost of these aircraft, 100 million or so each, we can’t afford to lose many of them in operational accidents.
The F35B vertical take off model developed for the Marines actually has stimulated a lot of interest, with a Marine squadron deployed on a Far East cruise on British carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth II, as well as British Naval air assets.
The Japanese are also planning on deploying the F35 B model to a couple of helicopter destroyers with decks being upgraded to handle jet engine downwash from the F35B vertical take off and landing and a number of Amphibious Assault Ships are also going to be deploying the F35B model, although it won’t be able to carry the same weapons load as the F35C Naval model for supercarrier deployment, but will the nuclear powered supercarriers have a future or will more smaller, cheaper conventional powered carriers such as the Amphibious Assault Ships be able to carry out the mission. Certainly the Marines is abandoning the heavy assault mission supported by tanks and artillery, rather in favor of smaller anti-ship missile armed units taking an island hopping strategy in hopes of containing a Chinese Communist Red Army Navy with a growing number of smaller ships such as frigates although the Chinese are also developing carriers for carrier based aviation to counter the American and British carrier based airpower.
While the large nuclear powered aircraft carriers such as the Ford are impressive in their ability to project airpower, especially in a world where land airbases aren’t available due to geography and political considerations, they also will require a lot of resources to protect them from growing assets of potential antagonists, such as nuclear and conventional submarines, growing air fleets, surface combatants and “carrier killer” missiles.
Kjunlandr
February 18, 2022 at 2:55 am
And one hypersonic shore to ship missile can take it out.
Tom
February 18, 2022 at 10:08 am
Are all the Elevators now operating in a sustainable Function?
Jacksonian Libertarian
February 18, 2022 at 10:35 am
The reason for Aircraft Carriers (60-90 aircraft) is nearly obsolete. Like Battleships (30 mile range) had to give way for the Aircraft Carriers (500 mile range), so to will Aircraft Carriers have to give way to UAVs/Drones (persistent unlimited range). 1,000 Drones could replace 2 or 3 carriers which spend most of their time not on active deployment. Of America’s 11 Carriers only 3 or 4 are actively deployed. Losing an Aircraft Carrier would be a disaster in blood, treasure, replacement time (10 years) and morale. Losing hundreds of drones which can be replaced with the latest models in weeks or months would be a powerful improvement.
BKMart
February 18, 2022 at 2:41 pm
What happens when the ship loses power?
Asking for a retired carrier sailor…
Jim
February 18, 2022 at 11:02 pm
Does it still cost $400,000 to acid flush the ships plumbing every 6 months or so?
Mike
February 19, 2022 at 1:31 am
Earlier Aircraft Carriers were referred too as “Bomb magnets”. I predict the the USS Gerald R Ford will be no different.