Navy Accepts Delivery of USS Gerald R. Ford Super Carrier

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Newest Supercarier Launched – The USS Gerald R. Ford

Above:  Spectacular tests of the new magnetic launch system on the Ford (3:23)

Above (2:49) Supercarrier USS Ford sea trials footage featuring EMERGENCY RUDDER TURNS and other shipboard insights.

The Navy has accepted the delivery of the $36 billion USS Gerald R. Ford supercarrier after 12 years of construction and testing, it was announced today. The Ford is the lead ship in a new class of carriers of the same name. The Ford class is the first new type of carriers since the Nimitz class was commissioned in 1975, and its maiden ship is the Navy’s first new carrier since the USS George H. W. Bush was delivered in 2009.The Ford has a larger flight deck than previous carriers, giving it the ability to hold more aircraft, weapons and aviation fuel. It also has new launch and recovery technology, called the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear, respectively. 

Its delivery comes after a 15-month delay.  One of the major causes of the delayed delivery were problems with the radical new magnetic launching (EMAS) system.

The Ford’s delivery came after it completed successful trial runs this past week.

The ship will be commissioned into the fleet this summer and is expected to be fully operational by 2020.

The new Ford Class has received some criticism for its huge cost overruns over the years, going from $27 billion all the way up the its current price tag of $36 billion.  The entire construction program has amounted to one of the more spectacular acquisition calamities in recent times, according to former USN prisoner of war, Presidential Candidate and now Arizona Senator, John McCain.

President Trump also criticized the ship and its many construction and testing woes, particularly the radical new EMAS, asserting we should have used the tested tried and true old steam launching system.

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