US Navy to receive supercarrier Ford in September

The super aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford will begin testing and be delivered to the US Navy in September 2016.

The USS Gerald R. Ford supercarrier is expected to be commissioned in 2021.

The aircraft carrier, estimated to cost $12.8 billion, is the first ship of the Ford class and is expected to be commissioned in 2021 after trials, according to the Daily Press on April 7.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Sean J. Stackley gave the expected timeline during a hearing at the US Senate Armed Services Committee on April 6. The aircraft carrier will undergo sea trials in July and be delivered to the US Navy by Newport News Shipbuilding in September.

This 100,000-ton, 335-meter-long super aircraft carrier is named after the 38th president of the United States, Gerald R. Ford. Former President Ford died in 2006 and fought aboard the USS Monterey during World War II.

The Ford uses advanced aircraft arresting technology to help planes land more smoothly. Although the system has been installed on the ship, it is still in the testing phase. Last week, the aircraft arresting system was successfully tested with an F/A-18A aircraft.

The Ford aircraft carrier uses an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) instead of the steam-powered launch system currently used on current US Navy aircraft carriers. EMALS launches each aircraft in 45 seconds, 25% faster than the steam-powered launch system. The ship carries about 75 aircraft of various types and is also armed with anti-aircraft missiles, short-range rapid-fire anti-aircraft guns, and laser guns. The ship only needs 2,600 sailors instead of more than 3,200 like the current US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.

Graphic image of the second ship of the Ford class, the USS John F. Kennedy - Photo: US Navy

Stackley also announced that the next Ford-class carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy, is scheduled to begin sea trials in 2020. As of March, the Kennedy was 18 percent complete, according to CNN. Construction on the third Ford-class ship, the USS Enterprise, will begin in 2018.

The Navy also proposes to build 38 new warships over the next five years at an estimated cost of $81.3 billion. The plan includes replacing the aging Ohio-class strategic ballistic missile submarines, buying nine Virginia-class attack submarines, 10 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and other smaller warships. The goal is to build a Navy fleet of 301 ships by 2021, Stackley said.

According to Thanh Nien