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| The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford |
International Military - USS Gerald Ford is one of the most advanced and most expensive military masterpieces ever created. After years of development and delays, Ford is finally ready to deploy later this year. The aircraft carrier, dubbed the supercarrier, is the newest and most advanced of the United States Navy.
Quoted from 19FortyFive, the USS Ford will replace the aging Enterprise Class and Nimitz. In large-scale combat, the presence of these carriers can be an important asset of the US Navy that can contribute in terms of strength.
Interestingly, because Ford carries a dozen cutting-edge technologies, there are fewer crews on board than its predecessors. For example, the Nimitz Class requires a crew of up to 5,000 sailors, and crew size is crucial in operating an aircraft carrier.
The Ford Class can reduce up to 1,100 crew, or about a 20 percent reduction. Even with the advanced technology inside, Ford has a lifespan of 50 years into the future.
Among the advanced features on board the carrier are, two upgraded A1B nuclear reactors, called the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), Advanced Weapons Elevators, Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), and Dual Band Radar (DBR).
All of these systems provide increased capability while reducing staffing requirements for ships. During the ship's expected life of up to the next 50 years, the configuration from Ford also allows it to accept new technologies in the future.
Quoted from Interesting Engineering, here are interesting facts inside the largest aircraft carrier in the world.
1. How many planes can the USS Gerald Ford carry?
The main function of an aircraft carrier is to carry fighter aircraft, and numbers are crucial here. The USS Gerald Ford can carry about 75 aircraft, some even say that he can accommodate 90 units. In addition to carrying fighter planes and helicopters, the largest aircraft carrier in the world will also operate with drones.
2. The USS Gerald Ford was built using virtual reality
Perhaps the most interesting fact, the Ford Class aircraft carriers were in fact built using virtual reality. The company Newport News Shipbuilding used three-dimensional concepts in designing the design of the USS Gerald Ford.
They considered an efficient weapon movement path to eliminate horizontal movement inside the ship. The gun lifts are also designed to make it easier to transport weapons from storage facilities to certain weapons handling areas on board.
With this state-of-the-art lift, crews can easily prepare weapons using a motorized carriage, or an automatic carrier. Elevators are made as good as possible, so that aircraft operations on the flight deck are not hampered.
With computerized features, the movement of weapons and the flight deck can save crew size and increase operational time efficiency.
3. The USS Gerald Ford is strong enough even without his planes
Again, the main strength of an aircraft carrier is the amount of air fleet it can carry, but that's not the case for the Ford Class. The USS Gerald Ford is equipped with both close and long range defense systems. Includes, RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile launcher, RIM-116 surface-to-air missile launcher, Phalanx Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) automatic 0.8-inch (20mm) Vulcan cannon, and machine gun caliber 50 (12.7 mm) M2.
CIWS itself is capable of detecting, targeting and destroying various kinds of air threats, both missiles, aircraft and drones automatically or independently. In order to detect enemy presence, the carrier is equipped with a multifunctional AN/SPY-3 X Band radar with an AN/SPY-4 S-Band volume search radar. The Ford class also has Dual Band Radar (DBR), which was first developed for the Zumwalt class destroyers.
4. USS Gerald Ford has facilities like a cruise ship
Indeed, not as complete as a cruise ship, the USS Gerald Ford remains a military asset needed in combat. But he has facilities that may not be “normal” on board an aircraft carrier, starting with a shop that provides household appliances and food commonly found in canteens.
The crew can use a debit card or cash to buy their necessities. There's even a Starbucks in it, although this coffee shop doesn't make a profit, it's used to support various crew schemes.
On board this aircraft carrier also equipped with religious facilities, the USS Gerald Ford performs as many as 40 of these different services each week while at sea. Each service is led by a religious leader who is adapted to the specific traditions of the many religions on board.