The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy's most advanced aircraft carrier is now on its first deployment, five years after it was commissioned into service and 15 years after it was named.
The brief deployment to the Atlantic is expected to further test the systems that delayed its debut. The carrier and its strike group will exercise with eight other nations.
"Certainly on the surface of the sea, this will be the most powerful warship that our Navy has ever put to sea, probably any Navy ever," Capt. Lanzilotta said. Originally, the Ford was projected to cost $10.5 billion, but problems with the advanced technologies drove up the cost and delayed its inaugural deployment by four years.
Hensy said the Navy had to decide around 2006 and 2007 to develop the Ford with the airwing that already existed, which didn't include the F-35. Since then, the Navy has modernized other carriers so they're fully F-35 capable, and the Ford will probably wait for those upgrades. An F/A-18E Super Hornet locks into the electromagnetic aircraft launch system. The carrier has more room to incorporate future technologies, like laser weapons and drones.
The change from steam-powered catapults to electromagnetic ones means the crew who manage the systems that launch and recover aircraft are not working in high-temperature conditions since the new system uses computers. The ship overall is cooler, according to Hensy, because of the"much larger" air conditioning plants that have the cooling capacity to handle future systems.
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