On November 26. 2022, the Gerald R. Ford-class vessel proved her worth as the most sophisticated carrier in the world after a successful NATO exercise with Allied Nations.
In fact, the Navy wants to replace its Nimitz-class carriers with the Gerald R. Ford class in the following decade and expects it to serve past 2100.
Nimitz Class Carriers
This is made up of a class of ten nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that are currently in service for the United States Navy.
However, the Navy designed them for a 50-year service life, and in the 2000s, the service began researching a new carrier class that could replace them.
Gerald R. Ford
USS Gerald R. Ford is the first US Navy aircraft designed in over 40 years. She is the lead ship of the Ford class of aircraft carriers designed to replace the aging Nimitz-class ones, and the carrier was introduced into service in 2017.
Specifications
The USS Gerald R. Ford is equipped with new technologies that enhance the ship’s capabilities in aircraft launch, propulsion, power generation, and ordnance handling.
Ford displaces 100,000 tons, has a length of 1092 feet, a beam of 256 feet, and a height of 252 feet.
Different from the Nimitz Class
The main features that distinguish the Ford from the Nimitz class are her improved Advanced Arresting Gear for aircraft of AAG, her Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System or EMALS, the revamped RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles, stealth capabilities, and Dual Band Radar.
Silent Wolverine
The USS Gerald R. Ford and her strike group joined six NATO allies to exercise Silent Wolverine in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean.
The Navy stated the Wolverine’s objective was to test the first-in-class aircraft carrier capabilities via integrated high-end naval warfare scenarios along participating NATO allies.