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. 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 current Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in US naval service have been part of United States power projection strategy since Nimitz was commissioned in 1975. Ford arrived at Naval Station Norfolk after seven days of builders trials in April 2017. Director of Operational Testing Michael Gilmore has criticized the assumptions used in these forecasts as unrealistic and has indicated sortie rates similar to the 120/240 per day of the Nimitz class would be acceptable. These ships are intended to sustain 160 sorties per day for 30-plus days, with a surge capability of 270 sorties per day. Ford-class carriers will have a reduced whole-life cost due in part to reduced crew size. The biggest visible difference from earlier supercarriers is the more aft location of the island (superstructure). The ability to carry up to 90 aircraft, including the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler, Grumman C-2 Greyhound, Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II, Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, and unmanned combat aerial vehicles.Stealth features to reduce radar cross-section.A new nuclear reactor design (the A1B reactor) for greater power generation.An Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) in place of traditional steam catapults for launching aircraft.Kennedy (CVN-79), the AN/SPY-6 will replace the AN/SPY-4 as the volume search component of the system. Designated together as Dual Band Radar (DBR), initially developed for the Zumwalt-class destroyers. An AN/SPY-3 X Band multifunction radar and an AN/SPY-4 S Band volume search radar.The updated RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile.Automation, allowing a crew of several hundred fewer than the Nimitz-class carrier.Kennedy (CVN-79), is scheduled to enter service in 2025.Ĭarriers of the Gerald R. CVN-78, was procured in 2008 and commissioned into service on 22 July 2017.

This class of aircraft carriers is named after former U.S. The new vessels have a hull similar to the Nimitz class, but they carry 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. Ford (CVN-78), replacing Enterprise (CVN-65), and later the Nimitz-class carriers.

Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are currently being constructed for the United States Navy, which intends to eventually acquire ten of these ships in order to replace current carriers on a one-for-one basis, starting with the lead ship of her class, Gerald R.

2 × Mk 49 Guided Missile Launching Systems, 21 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles eachġ,092 ft × 252 ft (333 m × 77 m) flight deck.2 × Mk 29 Guided Missile Launching Systems, 8 × RIM-162 ESSMs each.AN/SLQ-25C Nixie towed torpedo decoys.AN/SLQ-32(V)6 electronic warfare system.AN/SPY-6 Volume Search Radar (VSR) S band active electronically scanned array (CVN-79 and up).AN/SPY-4 Volume Search Radar (VSR) S band active electronically scanned array (CVN-78).AN/SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar (MFR) X band active electronically scanned array.Two Bechtel A1B PWR nuclear reactors, HEU 93.5%

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