USS Ford, CVN-78, is ready for action.

You (and we use that word with some regret) can build a ship, but can you fight with her? Are you even allowed to refer to her as her? The term Paper Tiger comes to mind.

The aircraft carrier is a 100-year-old concept. I suspect that today, after only one month of actual war, it would be realized that a new primary naval surface system and tactics would be needed. I’ve been at sea on the Lincoln CVN-72 and the Stennis CVN-74, though not as ship’s company (crew member). They are impressive in operation.

The Ford’s construction began in 2009, and it was formally commissioned in 2017. In 2008, when funding for the Ford was approved, it cost $13.3 billion. The ship was first declared operational in December 2021, though it suffered delays as work on technical problems, like weapons elevators, was still needed before it could properly set sail.

The Ford is the eleventh aircraft carrier presently in the fleet to enter active service, and it’s the first of the new design. The previous Nimitz-class carriers first entered service in 1975, with the most recent of that class joining in 2009. Eleven carriers is a lot, more than that of any other nation, though it’s also the minimum allowed by Congress. It’s a number that also does not include the Navy’s amphibious assault ships, in both Wasp and America classes, which have flight decks and are comparable in size to the aircraft carriers of other nations.

The Ford borrows a hull design from the Nimitz class, though it is somewhat modified. Internally, the carrier is redesigned to maximize both its utility and minimize long-term costs. This includes, most notably, the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which replaces the steam catapults on earlier carriers. Steam catapults help planes get up to speed when taking off from the short carrier runways, pulling a cable that helps hurl the plane as it accelerates to flight. EMALS replaces the steam buildup and launch of the previous system for an electromagnetic rail, which can be reset and reused more quickly.

The EMALS is one of several systems developed for the Ford-class carriers that have had performance issues in development, necessitating repair and modification. Other design changes include replacing the hydraulic weapons elevators of the Nimitz system with electromagnetic motors, allowing more and faster movement of munitions to and from deck. There are 11 of these elevators on the ship, and all 11 were fixed after construction, with repairs continuing until December 2021, even as the Ford was conducting trials at sea.

[…]

The Ford class also includes a more powerful nuclear power plant, allowing it to run existing and future electronics systems. Another big change with the design is that the Ford class is designed to need about 800-1,200 fewer crew than a Nimitz class, saving space, labor costs, and ultimately, allowing the Navy to fulfill more needs on more ships with fewer people.

Here’s a rundown of weapons systems, capabilities (on paper), and capacities.

Referring to your ship as she indicates the mutual respect and dependency necessary to be at sea. Whether you like it or not, you’re married to her, and she’s the only one you’ve got. It’s not as though you can call 911 if something goes wrong. You take care of her, and she’ll be true to you, fighting every battle by your side through to the end. Some ships are good ol’ gals, and some are rotten stinkers that sometimes need a good kick to the pants. I always thought it interesting that each vessel seems to have her own personality, much of which is reflected in her by the very first commissioning crew. I refer to them as she; take me to the gulag if you think you can.