The US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford will be dispatched off the coast of Israel, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Sunday, after Hamas launched an offensive on Saturday morning.
This aircraft carrier is the U.S. Navy's newest and most advanced, operating on nuclear power. On board, some 4,500 soldiers (for 4,297 accommodations) and a deck of warplanes will be accompanied by a cruiser and four destroyers to prepare for all eventualities, said a statement from Lloyd Austin. "We have also taken steps to increase squadrons of U.S. Air Force F-35, F-15, F-16 and A-10 fighter jets in the region," he added.
The Largest Warship
The USS Gerald R. Ford is the largest deployed military ship in the world, since it commissioned in October 2022. It required more than 10 years of work: announced in 2007 by the US government, it was delivered in 2017 at a total cost of $13 billion (€12.3 billion). It was the first in a series of ships built as successors to the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.
337 m long, 78 m wide and weighing 100,000 tons, it is equipped with two nuclear reactors that produce two and a half times more electricity than their predecessors on US Navy aircraft. The surface area of the flight deck, which has been increased, reaches 20,000 m².
VIDEO. U.S. Navy deploys its first next-generation aircraft carrier to the Atlantic
The catapulting of aircraft is carried out using an innovative process, electromagnetic catapults, whereas until now aircraft carriers had used steam catapults, as for the Charles-de-Gaulle. This new process increases the maximum number of aircraft takeoffs per day by 25% compared to the Nimitz carriers, all with 25% less crew required. This represents up to 160 possible daily outings, 220 in the event of a crisis.
"Stronger, faster"
"We are collectively 200% stronger than the Nimitz class. We are stronger, faster, and able to act at a much faster pace than with the Nimitzes," explained Captain James Fish, the ship's weapons officer, in October 2022.
This is the largest warship in the world, and the 🇺🇸 #USNavy's newest and most technologically advanced aircraft carrier@USNavy @Warship_78
— NATO (@NATO) August 20, 2023
In terms of armament, the USS Gerald R. Ford can withstand directed energy weapons, namely laser weapons, microwave weapons, and magnetic radiation. It can carry up to 90 planes and helicopters, but is also equipped with surface-to-air missiles: two launchers for RIM-116 RAM missiles and two launchers for RIM-162 ESSM, seaforces.org said. Other weapons systems complete this arsenal, with three close-quarters Phalanx CIWS weapon systems and four Mk 38 25mm machine gun systems.
Live Fire Weapons Inspection
The MK 38 - 25 mm machine gun system is a single-barreled, air-cooled, heavy machine gun that is effective up to 2,000 yards.
Improving #Warship78's self-defense capabilities! pic.twitter.com/osZHx2a0AR
— USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) (@Warship_78) June 30, 2022
In the Mediterranean since May
This aircraft carrier was named after former U.S. President Gerald Ford, who served from 1974 to 1977. Gerald Ford died on December 26, 2006, and at his funeral in January 2007, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said he had informed the former president of the news shortly before his death: "During a visit with President Ford, I brought him a cap with the USS Gerald R. Ford crest on top. It would be only fitting that Gerald R. Ford's name would patrol the high seas for decades to defend the nation he loved so much."
According to information provided by the US embassy in Turkey, the last known position of the aircraft was in Antalya on August 25, for a routine stopover planned by the military.
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The carrier strike group was in early October in the Ionian Sea, south of the Adriatic, according to the U.S. Navy. It had previously made stops in Oslo (Norway), Split (Croatia) and Piraeus (Greece), as part of a deployment in connection with "Neptune Strike", a maritime defence exercise organised by NATO.
In the Eastern Mediterranean, he will be tasked with "strengthening the Defense Department's position in the region to support regional deterrence efforts," Austin said.