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| USS Gerald Ford, The Largest Aircraft Carrier In The World |
International Military - Finally, after a construction process that took 13 years, the newest US aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, is ready to operate later this year. The United States will begin deploying the USS Gerald Ford to international waters as well as "show off" the country's military power.
First built in 2009, the USS Gerald Ford is the first of four nuclear-powered carriers to replace the Nimitz Class. Quoted from Defense Security Asia, when it starts sailing, the USS Gerald Ford will be the largest aircraft carrier in the world. Although it was planned to sail in 2024, in fact the operation of the USS Gerald Ford was delayed due to the complexity of the tests that needed to be carried out.
Quoted from Defense Security Asia, the USS Gerald Ford has not yet been deployed to all areas of operation because it is still undergoing various trials. The US's largest carrier is supposed to enter service in 2017, which is about eight years after construction began.
The USS Gerald Ford which is the carrier in the Gerald Ford class carrier was first built in 2009 by its main contractor, Newport News Shipbuilding. The largest carrier commissioned for the US Navy is estimated to weigh 100,000 tons. It is 134 feet high, 1,092 times long and can accommodate more than 75 aircraft and helicopters and various types of aerial platforms.
Meanwhile, according to the US Congress, the USS Gerald Ford will carry more than 70 fighters ranging from 40 to 50 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. F-35s, five EA-18G Growler electronic fighters, 19 MH -60 Seahawk helicopters, four E-2D Hawkeye early warning aircraft and two MV-22B Ospreys.
USS Gerald Ford is the most modern aircraft carrier ever
The United States often gives birth to the most up-to-date technology in the world, even being a "cheat" for other countries. And the development of weapons technology is also included in it, including their newest aircraft carrier, the Ford Class. Because it is the latest generation of aircraft carriers, the USS Gerald Ford uses several new technologies such as a new nuclear reactor that can generate three times more electrical power than the Nimitz-class carriers.
The USS Gerald Ford incorporates more than two dozen of the most recent new technologies. Because the main function of the broodstock is to project the air power off the coast. Basically, it's a floating airfield that can transport a number of flying platforms off the enemy's coast. So, the effectiveness of an aircraft carrier is seen from how many flights it can produce on it.
Some of the features that a modern aircraft carrier needs to have, the USS Gerald Ford has adopted them. One of them is the Sortie Generation Rate (SGR), which is a mechanism for aircraft carriers to facilitate, such as maintaining, repairing in case of damage and so on.
Quoted from 19FortyFiveUSS, Gerald Ford has a 33 percent higher SGR than the Nimitz class, where Ford can perform a total maintenance of 160 aircraft per day. Even up to 270 units during a surge, which is common during combat. And to improve this SGR, there are two key improvements to Ford, namely the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and the Advanced Arresting Gear System (AAG). The combination of these two plays an important role in the launch and recovery of US Navy fighter aircraft.
EMALS is an aircraft ejection system that replaces the traditional steam piston catapults used on the Nimitz and Enterprise carriers. The new system relies on an electric current that generates a magnetic field to propel the aircraft along a trajectory.
EMALS is designed to be able to launch the aircraft faster and stronger, thereby reducing stress on the fuselage. Lower cost, lighter weight and less maintenance, than the ancient steam piston ejection system.
With this, EMALS will improve Ford's SGR because it is able to reload faster, and can launch aircraft better and more accurately. Which means that with EMALS, these Ford Class carriers can launch a wider variety of fighters and even drones.
And complement EMALS is AAG, is a gear restraint when the plane makes a landing. Unlike the conventional hydraulic retaining gears found in the Nimitz and Enterprise,
AAG utilizes an energy-absorbing water turbine, coupled to a large induction motor. With it, AAG will increase control when holding aircraft that make a landing.
While in defense the US carrier will be equipped with RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles along with cannons. And for its main defense, the USS Gerald Ford will be accompanied by two destroyers, a cruiser, and various warplanes. That's not counting the nuclear-powered submarines that accompany operations around the world.