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The Navy’s newest — and largest — aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, will depart Monday from Naval Station Norfolk, embarking on its first deployment after years of costly growing pains.
Touted as the Navy’s most technologically advanced carrier, the Ford is the first to use a new aircraft-launching technology called the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, also known as EMALS, to put planes in the air 25% faster.
The Ford will operate in the Atlantic Ocean as the lead ship of a strike group bearing the carrier’s name. The strike group, made up of approximately 9,000 personnel, will focus training on air defense, anti-subsurface warfare, distributed maritime operations, mine countermeasures, and amphibious operations.
“This deployment is an opportunity to push the ball further down the field and demonstrate the advantage that Ford and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8 bring to the future of naval aviation, to the region and to our Allies and partners,” said Rear Adm. Gregory Huffman.
The Ford will sail the Atlantic alongside navies from Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden.
[ USS Gerald R. Ford takes another step in its long, and expensive, journey ]
The U.S. units participating in the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group deployment include: Carrier Strike Group 12, Carrier Air Wing 8, Destroyer Squadron 2, USS Normandy, USS Ramage, USS McFaul, USS Thomas Hudner, USNS Joshua Humpreys, USNS Robert E. Peary, and USCGC Hamilton.
“Our primary goal is to contribute to a peaceful, stable, and conflict-free Atlantic region through the combined naval power of our Allies and partners. The deployment of USS Gerald R. Ford’s carrier strike group is the natural progression of our renewed commitment to the Atlantic,” said Vice Adm. Dan Dwyer, commander of the U.S. 2nd Fleet.
The 2nd Fleet oversees American warships as they deploy between the U.S. East Coast and the Barents Sea, off of the coasts of Norway and Russia, the Associated Press reported. The U.S. has sharpened its focus on the North Atlantic in recent years after the Russian military ramped up operations to a pace not seen since the end of the Cold War.
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The aircraft carrier is the first ship in the Ford class of aircraft carriers, which will eventually replace the Nimitz-class carriers. It is about 1,000 feet long and can hold a crew of 4,539 and 75 aircraft.
The ship cost more than $13 billion, making it the Navy’s most expensive carrier ever.
Construction on the Ford began at Newport News Shipbuilding in 2009. The ship was christened in 2013 and finished sea trials in 2017, but with the new technology came high-tech delays.
Software problems with the carrier’s elevators and electromagnetic catapults pushed the Ford’s ready-date from 2020 to 2022.
The ship honors President Gerald Ford and his service in the Navy. Ford left the Navy as a lieutenant commander after serving on the USS Monterey during Word War II. He remained in the Naval Reserve until 1963 and became the country’s 38th president in 1974.
The USS John F. Kennedy is expected to join the Ford’s class in 2024.
Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com