The USS Gerald R. Ford is the lead ship of her class of United States Navy aircraft carriers
and is the most technologically advanced warship ever built.
The class brings improved warfighting capability, quality of life improvements for Sailors
and reduced total ownership costs. Anyway, in today’s episode,
we will take a look at the 10 Facts about the USS Gerald R. FORD that not many people know.
Number one, the cost of the aircraft carrier’s development
After 14 years of development and delays, the most expensive and often troubled next-generation
aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford with the code CVN-78, is finally ready for deployment. The
aircraft carrier cost about $13.3 billion in total and was approved by the U.S. Navy in late 2021.
Initially, the aircraft carrier was expected to be deployed in 2017,
eight years after the construction began in 2009, which is more than the usual aircraft
carrier building timeframe of five years. But the difficulties in the development process
and a series of delays due to reliability problems with multiple new technologies
caused a five-year delay over the already longer than usual building timeframe.
Number two, the design of its toilet The $13 billion USS Gerald R. Ford,
which can carry about 5,000 crews is the first new US aircraft carrier designed in 40 years.
For one thing, it’s not uncommon to find women serving aboard such carriers these days.
Women account for nearly 20% of the sailors in the US Navy. For this reason, the ship’s designers
adapted to the new reality. According to the Navy Times, the Ford has no urinals which is only
seated toilets with stalls available. Urinals have their advantages that they take up less space.
They allow men to relieve themselves while standing, without creating a hygiene problem.
Many men will no doubt opt to stand despite the option to sit and create a smelly mess when they
miss the target. Gender-neutral bathrooms are a hotly debated topic in the US and elsewhere,
but for the USS Ford the issue is flexibility. “There aren’t any berthing areas that are
dedicated to one sex or the other,” an operations specialist told the Navy Times of the new design.
If space were required for males, “we could shift the females to other berthing areas
and make this all male without any modification being necessary.”
Number three, its standout speed capacity
One of the standout features of the USS Gerald R. Ford-class of supercarriers refers to their speed.
According to officially published statistics, this ship is capable of a top speed of around
35mph/56kph. Generally, some of the fastest warships currently in operation,
like a modern destroyer, would just about keep up with their engines at full power.
Ships that people may be more familiar with, like an ocean liner, usually cruise at around 20 knots,
although many can achieve up to 30 knots. Her top speed is a little slower than her predecessor,
the USS Enterprise, but is even more impressive given the ship's increased size and displacement.
The USS Gerald R. Ford has an official displacement of 100,000 long tons when
fully laden, with the USS Enterprise coming in at around 94,781 long tons.
Number four, the length of the carriers. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft has a total
length of 333 meters, a beam of 41 meters at the waterline, a flight deck width of 78 m,
and a height of nearly 76 meters over 25 decks. As previously mentioned, this ship also displaces
around 100,000 long tons. That makes her one of the largest warships ever constructed.
Even the mightiest battleships of days gone by are dwarfed by her. Take an example of
the infamous IJN Yamato, the largest battleship to ever set sail. She was massive and carried
the largest guns ever mounted on a ship but "only" weighed in at around 72,000 long tons,
she was also shorter and slower compared to the aircraft carriers.
Number five, the distinction compared to Nimitz-class.
Each ship in the new class will save more than $4 billion in total ownership costs
during its 50-year service life, compared to the Nimitz-class. The CVN 78 is designed to operate
effectively with nearly 700 fewer crew members than a CVN 68-class ship. Improvements in the
ship design will allow the embarked air wing to operate with approximately 400 fewer personnel.
New technologies and ship design features are expected to reduce watch standing and maintenance
workload for the crew. Gerald R. Ford is the first aircraft carrier designed with all electric
utilities, eliminating steam service lines from the ship, reducing maintenance requirements,
and improving corrosion control. In addition, the completed USS Gerald R. Ford holds a number
of welcome quality-of-life upgrades for sailors over the previous Nimitz design, including quieter
sleeping quarters, numerous recreation areas and gymnasiums as well as better air conditioning.
Number six, the ability to carry up to 90 aircraft
The USS Gerald R. Ford is not only an impressive vessel in and of herself,
but she really packs a lot of potential in her hangers. According to official figures,
she comes equipped with around 75+ aircraft (some sources state 90). These are a mixture of strike
fighters like the Boeing F/A-18E/F "Super Hornet," the electronic warfare variant of the F-18,
the EA-18G "Growler," and other support aircraft like the Grumman C-2 Greyhound, Northrop Grumman
E-2 Hawk, Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, and a variety of unmanned aerial combat vehicles.
There are also plans, if not already executed, to provide the USS Gerald R. Ford with a complement
of some of America's most advanced aircraft, like the Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II.
Number seven, its unique propellers The USS Gerald R. Ford is absolutely enormous, as
we've already covered. Because of this, everything about her is supersized, like her propellers.
Each one (and there are four of them) weighs an eye-watering 30 tons each. They are each 21 ft
(6.4 m) in diameter, and they are made of bronze. The installation of the propellers required more
than 10 months of work to install the underwater shafting. To power her enormous shafts and
propellers, power is generated from the ship's pair of Bechtel A1B PWR nuclear reactors. To do
this, the nuclear reactors release energy in the form of heat which, in turn, is used to generate
high-pressure steam. This steam then drives propulsion turbines, which give the necessary
power to turn the propellers. The ship's other electricity is generated by additional turbines.
The water is routed back through the system as the steam cools and condenses back into the water,
and the process begins again. Crew access to the nuclear reactor compartment is forbidden
during reactor operation to safeguard them from the radiation emitted by the reactor. Radiation
monitors are worn by reactor engineers and are examined on a regular basis. To prevent radiation
exposure, they follow tight safety protocols, work in shifts, and meticulously schedule their work.
Number eight, employing augmented reality aboard the Ford
Each part built for a Ford-class carrier starts its life as a full-scale 3D model
inside Huntington Ingalls Industries' Rapid Operational Virtual Reality (ROVR) system.
This ship is the first US carrier to be designed using such computerized techniques
and also employs augmented-reality technology to give its crew more insight into the ship's systems
and improve efficiency. Moreover, the Gerald R. Ford class was designed with efficient
weapon moving pathways in mind to essentially eliminate horizontal movement within the ship.
Advanced weapons elevators were also designed to transport weapons from storage facilities
to specific weapons-handling areas within the ship, which could actually be visualized in 3D
during the design stage. This allows sailors to transport weapons from storage to elevators
on various floors of the weapons magazines using motorized carts. These elevators can also be
repositioned, so that aircraft operations on the flight deck are not hampered. The
modification of the weapons moving pathways and the placement of the weapons elevators on the
flight deck will save manpower and result in a significantly greater sortie generation rate.
Additionally, this makes her the first aircraft in the United States to be designed utilizing
computer-aided design techniques. Ship operations themselves will involve augmented-reality
technology to give its crew more insight into the ship's systems and improve efficiency.
The ship is outfitted with two upgraded A1B nuclear reactors, the so-called Electromagnetic
Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), Advanced Weapons Elevators, Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), and Dual
Band Radar (DBR). These systems all provide increased capability while reducing staffing
requirements for the vessel. Although technical problems with the new equipment significantly
delayed the deployment of the vessel. During the ship's planned 50-year service life, the ship's
configuration and electrical generating plant are also designed to accept future technologies,
including direct energy weapons, as and when they are deemed necessary for retrofitting.
Number ten, the facilities provided in the aircraft
It is quite impressive to know that the USS Gerald R. Ford actually has its own shops and even offers
Starbucks coffee on board. The shop comes equipped with all the comforts of home in excess of the
regular rations of food, beverages and others that the crews can get from the ship's canteen.
Apparently, the crew is able to use their Navy Cash Debit Card for any such purchases.
As for Starbucks, the branded coffee is available in the USS Gerald R. Ford's "Mac's" coffee shop.
For the information, the coffee shop is not for profit, and all proceeds go to support
various schemes for the ship's crew. To protect the crew from the rigors of eating or drinking
too many sugary foods and drinks, the ship also has its own dental surgery. For the
god-fearing among the crew, the ship is also supported with its own religious facilities too.
Interestingly, an aircraft carrier like the USS Gerald R. Ford may hold as many
as 40 different religious services per week while at sea. Each chaplain-led service is
tailored to the specific traditions of the many faiths aboard the ship.
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