Ford-class Aircraft Carrier
OEM: Huntington Ingalls Industries
First Produced: 2017
Status: Active
Role: Nuclear-powered supercarrier
Primary Operator: U.S. Navy
OEM Website: hii.com
The Gerald R. Ford-class is the U.S. Navy's newest generation of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, replacing the Nimitz-class on a one-for-one basis. Each ship features two A1B reactors, electromagnetic aircraft launch (EMALS), advanced arresting gear, and a dual-band radar suite, improvements intended to increase sortie generation rate by roughly 25 percent.
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) deployed operationally in 2022 and completed an extended East Mediterranean deployment in 2023–24. Follow-on ships Kennedy, Enterprise, and Doris Miller are under construction at HII Newport News.
The class is sized to operate an air wing of approximately 75 aircraft and will remain the centerpiece of U.S. naval power projection through mid-century.
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