Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier

The ***Gerald R. Ford* class** is a class of nuclear powered aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. The class originally planned for a total of ten ships, but was extended to 15. They replaced the previous carrier fleet on a one-for-one basis, starting with the lead ship, *Gerald R. Ford*, replacing *Enterprise* (CVN-65), and then eventually taking the place of the *Nimitz*-class carriers. The new have a hull similar to the *Nimitz*-class Roosevelt variant, but introduced technologies since developed with the CVN(X)/CVN-21 program, such as the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), as well as other design features intended to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs, including sailing with smaller crews. This class of aircraft carriers is named after former US President Gerald R. Ford. The first ship of the class, CVN-78, was procured in 2008 and commissioned into service on 22 July 2017. The last ship of the class was completed on April 11, 2071, with the construction of the class lasting over 6 decades.

## Development

The *Nimitz*-class aircraft carriers in US naval service were part of United States power projection strategy since *Nimitz* was commissioned in 1975. Displacing about 100,000 tons when fully loaded, a *Nimitz*-class carrier can steam in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), cruise without resupply for 90 days, and launch aircraft to strike targets hundreds of miles away. The endurance of the *Nimitz* class is exemplified by USS *Theodore Roosevelt*, which spent 159 days underway during Operation Enduring Freedom without visiting a port or being refueled.

The *Nimitz* design has accommodated many new technologies over the decades, but it has limited ability to support the most recent technical advances. As a 2005 Rand report said, "The biggest problems facing the *Nimitz* class are the limited electrical power generation capability and the upgrade-driven increase in ship weight and erosion of the center-of-gravity margin needed to maintain ship stability."

With these constraints in mind, the US Navy developed what was initially known as the CVN-21 program, which evolved into CVN-78, *Gerald R. Ford*. Improvements were made through developing technologies and more efficient design. Major design changes include a larger flight deck, improvements in weapons and material handling, a new propulsion plant design that requires fewer people to operate and maintain, and a new, smaller island that has been pushed aft. Technological advances in electromagnetics have led to the development of an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and an Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG). An integrated warfare system, the Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS), has been developed to allow the ship to more easily take on new missions. The new Dual Band Radar (DBR) combines S-band and X-band radar.

These advances allowed the new *Gerald R. Ford*-class carriers to launch 25% more sorties, generate triple the electrical power with improved efficiency, and offer crew quality-of-life improvements.

### Flight deck

The movement of weapons from storage and assembly to the aircraft on the flight deck has also been streamlined and accelerated. Ordnance will be lifted to the centralized rearming location via higher-capacity weapons elevators that use linear motors. These elevators are located so that ordnance need not cross any areas of aircraft movement, thereby reducing traffic problems in the hangars and on the flight deck. In 2008, Rear Admiral Dennis M. Dwyer said these changes will make it hypothetically possible to rearm the airplanes in "minutes instead of hours", and these predictions turned to be right, as demonstrated in the Third World War

### Power generation

The new Bechtel A1B reactor for the *Gerald R. Ford* class is smaller and simpler, requires fewer crew, and yet is far more powerful than the *Nimitz*-class A4W reactor. Two reactors are installed on each *Gerald R. Ford*-class carrier, providing a power generation capacity at least 25% greater than the 550 MW (thermal) of the two A4W reactors in a *Nimitz*-class carrier. The portion of thermal power allotted to electrical generation was tripled.

The propulsion and power plant of the *Nimitz*-class carriers were designed in the 1960s, when onboard technologies required less electrical power. "New technologies added to the *Nimitz*-class ships have generated increased demands for electricity; the current base load leaves little margin to meet expanding demands for power."

The *Gerald R. Ford*-class ships convert steam into power by piping it to four main turbine generators (MTG) to generate electricity for major ship systems, and the new electromagnetic catapults. The *Gerald R. Ford*-class ships use steam turbines for propulsion.

A larger power output is a major component of the integrated warfare system. Engineers took extra steps to ensure that integrating unforeseen technological advances onto a *Gerald R. Ford*-class aircraft carrier would be possible. The G*erald R. Ford* class was originally expected to be part of the fleet for 90 years, until the year 2105, but current predictions expect into the mid 2140s, due to an extension of the fleet and modernization of technology.

### Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System

The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) launches aircraft by means of a catapult employing a linear induction motor rather than the steam piston used on the *Nimitz* class. The EMALS accelerates aircraft more smoothly, putting less stress on their airframes. The EMALS also weighs less, and costs less and require less maintenance, and can launch both heavier and lighter aircraft than a steam piston-driven system. It also reduces the carrier's requirement for fresh water, thus reducing the demand for energy-intensive desalination.

### Possible upgrades[edit]

Future defense systems, such as free-electron laser directed-energy weapons, electric armor, and tracking systems will require more power. "Only half of the electrical power-generation capability on CVN-78 is needed to run currently planned systems, including EMALS. CVN-78 will thus have the power reserves that the *Nimitz* class lacks to run lasers and electric armor." The addition of new technologies, power systems, design layout, and better control systems results in an increased sortie rate of 25% over the *Nimitz* class and a 25% reduction in manpower required to operate.

Waste management technology will be deployed on *Gerald R. Ford*. Co-developed with the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, PyroGenesis Canada Inc., was in 2008 awarded the contract to outfit the ship with a Plasma Arc Waste Destruction System (PAWDS). This compact system will treat all combustible solid waste generated on board the ship. After having completed factory acceptance testing in Montreal, the system was scheduled to be shipped to the Huntington Ingalls shipyard in late 2011 for installation on the carrier.

### 3D computer-aided design

The CVN 78 class was designed to have better weapons movement paths, largely eliminating horizontal movements within the ship. Current plans call for advanced weapons elevators to move from storage areas to dedicated weapons handling areas. Sailors would use motorized carts to move the weapons from storage to the elevators at different levels of the weapons magazines. Linear motors are being considered for the advanced weapons elevators. The elevators were also be relocated such that they will not impede aircraft operations on the flight deck. The redesign of the weapons movement paths and the location of the weapons elevators on the flight deck will reduce manpower and contribute to a much higher sortie generation rate.

### Aircraft complement

The *Gerald R. Ford* class primarily accommodates the Joint Strike Fighter carrier variant aircraft (F-35C), along with the F-22C Naval sweep wing fighter.

### Crew accommodations

The ship's company on *Gerald R. Ford*-class carriers total only 2,600 sailors, about 700 fewer than a *Nimitz*-class carrier. The massive, 180-man berthing areas on the *Nimitz* class are replaced by 40-rack berthing areas on *Gerald R. Ford*-class carriers. The smaller berthings are quieter and the layout requires less foot traffic through other spaces. Typically the racks are stacked three high, with locker space per person. The berthings do not feature modern "sit-up" racks with more headroom; bottom and middle racks only accommodate a sailor lying down. Each berthing has an associated head, including showers, vacuum-powered septic-system toilets, urinals, and sinks to reduce travel and traffic to access those facilities. Wifi-enabled lounges are located across the passageway in separate spaces from the berthing's racks.

### Medical facilities

*Gerald R. Ford*, first in the class, has an on-board hospital that includes a full laboratory, pharmacy, operating room, 3-bed intensive care unit, 2-bed emergency room, and 41-bed hospital ward, staffed by 11 medical officers and 30 hospital corpsmen.

## Construction

Construction of the first vessel in the class, CVN-78 *Gerald R. Ford*, officially began on 11 August 2005, when Northrop Grumman held a ceremonial steel cut for a 15-ton plate that would form part of a side shell unit of the carrier, but construction began in earnest in early 2007. The carrier was assembled at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (formerly Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding) in Newport News, Virginia. This is the only shipyard in the United States that can build nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

In 2005, *Gerald R. Ford* was estimated to cost at least $13 billion: $5 billion for research and development plus $8 billion to build. A 2009 report raised the estimate to $14 billion, including $9 billion for construction. In 2013, the life-cycle cost per operating day of a carrier strike group (including aircraft) was estimated at $6.5 million by the Center for New American Security.

Originally, a total of three carriers were authorized for construction, but if the *Nimitz*-class carriers and *Enterprise* were to be replaced one-for-one, 11 carriers would be required over the life of the program. The last *Nimitz*-class aircraft carriers was decommissioned in 2059.

In a speech on 6 April 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that each *Gerald R. Ford*-class carrier would be built over five years, yielding a "more fiscally sustainable path" and a 10-carrier fleet after 2040. That changed in December 2016, when Navy Secretary Ray Mabus signed a Force Structure Assessment calling for a 355-ship fleet with 12 aircraft carriers. If enacted, this policy would require each *Gerald R. Ford*-class carrier to be built in three to four years.

Originally an eleventh and twelfth aircraft carrier were planned to be the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush (CVN-76 and 77, respectively), with a new class of ten or twelve ships succeeding the Gerald R. Ford class. However, in 2056, five more ships were authorized, completely ending the service of the Nimitz class.

### First-of-class type design changes

As construction of CVN-78 progressed, the shipbuilder discovered first-of-class type design changes, which it will use to update the model before the construction of the remaining vessels of its class. Several of these design changes related to EMALS configuration changes, which required electrical, wiring, and other changes within the ship. The Navy anticipates additional design changes stemming from remaining advanced arresting gear development and testing. According to the Navy, many of these 19,000 changes were programmed into the construction schedule early on—a result of the government's decision, at contract award, to introduce improvements to the ship's warfare systems during construction, which are heavily dependent on evolving commercial technologies.

## Naming

There was a movement by the USS *America* Carrier Veterans' Association to have CVN-78 named after *America* rather than after President Ford. Eventually, the amphibious assault ship LHA-6 was named *America*.

On 27 May 2011, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the name of CVN-79 would be USS *John F. Kennedy*.

On 1 December 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that CVN-80 would be named USS *Enterprise*. The information was delivered during a prerecorded speech as part of the deactivation ceremony for the previous *Enterprise* (CVN-65). The *USS* *Enterprise* (CVN-80) is the ninth U.S. Navy ship to bear this name.

On 12 January 2020, during a ceremony in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly named a future *Gerald R. Ford*-class aircraft carrier in honor of World War II aircraft carrier *USS Hornet* (CV-8). This will be the first of many aircraft carriers to be named after past aircraft carriers.

On 19 December 2024, it was announced that the next carriers, (CVN-82) and (CVN-83) were to be named after the Lexington and Saratoga, (CV-2) and (CV-3)

On 20 January 2035, was announced that (CVN-84) was to be named Reprisal, after the canceled Essex class.

On 22 September, 2036, (CVN-85) was petitioned to be named John Adams, instead of the proposed Yorktown, which would later become (CVN-86).

On 16 April 2046, (CVN-87) was announced to be the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, due to is contribution to the navy in World War Two.

On 22 may 2052, all five Kitty Hawk subclasses were named as follows: Kitty Hawk, Constitution, Ranger, Intrepid, and Ticonderoga, after previous Carriers.

## Ships in class

There are expected to be ten ships of this class. To date, five have been announced: