US Navy’s second Ford class supercarrier USS John F. Kennedy is now 50% complete as
per shipbuilder Huntington Ignalls.
The midpoint in construction is reached 14 months earlier when compared to USS Gerald
R. Ford due to the modular approach in construction.
Ford class supercarriers are being built to replace some of the United States Navy’s
existing Nimitz-class carriers.
The first ship of this class is Gerald R. Ford.
Nimitz class carriers have been the face of the US Navy and have enabled power projection
far off from the US homeland.
USS Nimitz, lead ship of Nimitz class was commissioned in 1975.
The Nimitz class has been able to accommodate many new technologies over the decades, but
the Nimitz design has now reached its threshold and this is where Ford class comes in.
USS John F. Kennedy will utilize the latest technological advances and incorporate major
improvements over the Nimitz class.
With USS John F. Kennedy, the US Navy will have two 'state of the art' supercarrier with
another 3 in the pipeline.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes why USS John F. Kennedy will be the worst nightmare
for Russia & China?
Let's get started.
Nimitz-class super-carriers got planes moving for takeoff using steam-actuated catapults.
The system required a lot of steam piping, a large condensate return, and tons of fresh water.
They also have a lot of maintenance issues.
Plus, with steam-actuation, the majority of the force is being transferred to the airplane
at the beginning of the stroke—in a jolt.
This puts stress on an airframe, and thus reduces the lifespan of the expensive planes.
USS John F. Kennedy will use the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS).
The system uses a linear induction motor with an electric current to generate a magnetic field.
That field then propels a carriage down a track.
Since the power delivery is linear, it negates the deficiencies of a steam catapult and is
more suitable for future aircraft and drones like MQ-25 Stingray Tanker Drone.
To know more, check the video on the above card.
Four of these EMALS will be present - two will be at the bow will the other two at port-side,
enabling simultaneous launch of 4 aircrafts
American Nimitz aircraft carriers, the French Charles de Gaulle, the Russian Kuznetsov,
the Brazilian São Paulo, the Chinese Liaoning, and Indian Vikramaditya uses hydraulic arresting
system which is a dated system and suitable for only traditional carrier based aircraft.
USS John F. Kennedy will be fitted with Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG).
AAG is capable of working with all current and projected future carrier-based aircraft,
from the lightest unmanned aerial vehicles to the heaviest manned fighters.
The heart of any aircraft carriers are the nuclear reactors which provide the required power.
The Ford class has newly designed reactors.
2 Bechtel A1B nuclear reactors will be installed on USS John F. Kennedy
Each one these are capable of producing 300 MW of electricity, triple the 100 MW of each
Nimitz-class vessel.
The huge power supply provides for the leg room, required for future expansions like
inducting Laser Guns and Electromagnetic Rail Guns.
US Military has been working on these two technologies for some time now.
USS John F. Kennedy will have an integrated Active electronically scanned array search
and tracking - AN/SPY-3 radar system.
The dual-band radar (DBR) utilizes a multi-tier, dual-band tracker, which consists of a local
X band tracker, a local S band tracker, and a central tracker.
The central tracker merges the two signals to provide a comprehensive situational awareness.
The X band tracker is optimized for low latency to support its mission of providing defense
against fast, low-flying missiles, while the S band tracker is optimized for large area coverage.
This new system has no moving parts, therefore minimizes maintenance & manning requirements.
USS John F. Kennedy has a newly designed deck.
It has 3 aircraft elevators that are more efficient when compared to 4 in Nimitz class supercarriers.
Reduction in 1 aircraft elevators has freed up space which will enable faster maneuvering
of aircraft in the deck.
The island is also smaller and farther aft than the Nimitz‐class supercarriers.
With this space for flight deck operations and aircraft maintenance is increased.
Ford class design has implemented automation in a big way, which will result in solid gains
in operational efficiency.
USS John F. Kennedy will be capable of generating 30% more flight missions per day than Nimitz‐class carriers.
This will make the supercarrier a deadly adversary.