Scary USS Gerald R. Ford - How Powerful is the CVN-78? US Navy's $13 Billion Aircraft Carrier

how powerful is the USS Gerald our Ford aircraft carrier [Music] USS Gerald our Ford cvn-78 is the lead ship of her class of US Navy aircraft carriers the ship is named after the 38th President of the United States Gerald Ford whose World War two naval service included combat duty aboard the light aircraft carrier Monterey in the Pacific Theatre on September 10 2008 the US Navy signed a 5.1 billion dollar contract with Northrop Gruman shipbuilding in Newport News Virginia to design and construct the carrier Northrop had begun advanced construction of the carrier under a 2.7 billion dollar contract in 2005 the carrier was constructed at the Huntington Ingalls formerly Northrop Gruman newport news shipbuilding facilities in Newport News Virginia which employs 19 thousand workers the new vessel is America's first new carrier design in over 40 years since USS Nimitz CVM 68 entered service on May 3rd 1975 the Gerald our Ford cvn-78 class will eventually be a phased replacement for the nimitz-class carriers with as many as ten vessels or potentially more eventually being built the Navy will spend forty three billion dollars developing and building the three Ford class carriers that Congress has authorized thus far those include Ford herself the future USS John F Kennedy CBN 79 and the future USS Enterprise C V and 80 more vessels will likely be authorized afterwards the Ford class is designed with a host of improvements over the Nimitz class that should significantly improve quality of life for sailors and reduce maintenance costs for the Navy Ford also adds improved survivability measures while reducing Manning and maintenance requirements if all of Navy's projections are realized the service will save four billion dollars in total ownership costs over the life of the ship additionally Ford which is based on the Nimitz class whole form restores weight and stability margins by reconfiguring the ship's interior though she displaces roughly a hundred thousand tons just like the CBN 68 class indeed one officer noted that while at sea for it is much more sporty than the Nimitz thanks to her prodigious horsepower and reconfigured interiors power is derived from a pairing of new generation a one beam nuclear reactors produced by Bechtel marine propulsion corporation and these succeed current generation a 4w nuclear reactor series that empowered the preceding Nimitz class of ships to this point the reactor Fitz will allow the vessel to reach maximum speeds exceeding 30 knots and ideal conditions and the nuclear nature of their design offers essentially unlimited travel range capable of reaching any part of the world containing a connected body of water that allows her drop the reactors hold a service life of approximately 20 to 25 years aircraft carrier home whole design is similar to that of the current nimitz-class carriers and with the same number of decks the island is smaller and moved further towards the aft of the ship the oven has a composite mast with planar array radars a volume search radar operating at s band and a multifunction radar @x pen it carries the stern facing joint precision approach and landing system which is based on the local area differential global positioning system rather than radar the aircraft carrier traditionally carries the flag officer and 70 staff of the carrier battle group the flag bridge which was previously accommodated in the carrier's island was relocated to a lower deck in order to minimize the size of the island the ship's internal configuration and flight deck designs have significantly changed the lower decks incorporate a flexible rapidly reconfigurable layout allowing different layouts and installation of new equipment in command planning and administration areas [Music] USS Gerald our Ford defenses defense is immodest though advanced network of improved rim-162 evolved sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles a rolling airframe missile installation and a digital close-in weapon system as well as an ant spy three radar suite and active search and tracking features communications search and tracking is managed through a composite mast atop the island however the vessel will still rely on its extensive support fleet from both ranged and point defense against inbound enemy aircraft missiles surface threats and undersea threats Gerald Ford class carrier aircraft the heart and soul of the USS Gerald Ford is her Air Wing comprised of modern and advanced fighters strike aircraft special mission aircraft transports and helicopters no competing for indesign can match the air arm of USS Gerald R Ford by any stretch the carrier will be capable of carrying up to 90 aircraft including the f-35 Joint Strike Fighter f-18 e F a super hornet e - d advanced hawkeye ea-18g growler electronic attack aircraft mh-60r s helicopters as well as unmanned air and combat vehicles the requirement for a higher sortie rate at 160 sorties a day with surges to a maximum of 220 sorties a day in times of crisis and intense air warfare activity has led to design changes in the flight deck the flight deck has a relocated smaller island while there are three rather than four decades elevators deck extensions also increase the aircraft parking areas aircraft service stations are located near the 18 refuelling and rearming stops replacing traditional steam catapults the electromagnetic aircraft Launch System will launch all carrier aircraft the innovation eliminates the traditional requirements to generate and store steam freeing up considerable area below deck with the Emil's Gerald R Ford can now accomplish 25 percent more aircraft launches per day than the Nimitz class and requires 25% fewer crew members aircraft weapons loading [Music] the flow of weapons to the aircraft stops on the flight deck was upgraded to accommodate the higher sortie rates the ship carries stores of missiles and cannon rounds for fighter aircraft bombs and air-to-surface missiles for strike aircraft and torpedoes and depth charges for anti-submarine warfare aircraft weapons elevators take the weapons systems from the magazines to the weapons handling and assembly areas on the two-level deck below the flight deck and express weapons elevators are installed between the handling and assembling areas on the flight deck the two companies selected by Northrop Gruman to generate designs for the advanced weapons elevator are the federal equipment company and Oldenburg lakeshore deployment of all up rounds which are larger rather than traditional weapons requiring assembly will require double height magazines and storerooms and will also impact on the level of need for weapons assembly facilities the US Navy outlined a requirement for a minimum increase of 150 percent in the power generation capacity for the cvn-78 carrier compared with the nimitz-class carriers the increased power capacity is needed for the for electromagnetic aircraft Launch errs and for future systems such as directed energy weapons that might be feasible during the carrier's 50-year lifespan [Music] censors in October 2008 Raytheon was contracted to supply a version of the dual band radar developed for the zumwalt-class destroyer for installation on the Gerald our Ford DVR combines expand and s-band phased arrays propulsion Northrop Gruman is developing the advanced nuclear propulsion system with two reactors four shafts and a zonal electrical power distribution system for the cvn-78 as it stands the USS Gerald our Ford represents the most powerful surface warship in the United States Navy Arsenal able to respond to actions in any part of the world and unleash its Air Arm on enemies as US and carrier groups have done so effectively in past Wars thank you [Music] [Music] you [Music] you [Music] you

Channel: US Military News

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Id: sJdHh5zn8Zw

Length: 11min 11sec (671 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 23 2019