If you have never been inside of a United States Navy warship, I highly recommend it. There are quite a few that are no longer in service, but they are still docked at their final resting places, allowing visitors to view the inner workings of these massive ships. Some of these include the USS Midway, Battleship New Jersey, USS North Carolina Battleship, and of course, Pearl Harbor. When inside one of these incredible warships, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the history inside of it, along with the knowledge of all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into the warship to make sure the United States is as safe as possible. But when you are inside, the last thing you are really thinking about is the amount of money that went into each and every one of these warships. For example, the USS Midway had an original cost of $86.5 million and had $100 million worth of spare parts readily available. The cost to build the Battleship New Jersey was over $100 million. While that all seems like a whole lot of money, it is nothing compared to the USS Gerald Ford that will be added to the Navy fleet in 2016. The new Ford-class aircraft carrier series will be a huge upgrade from the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers currently in use. It has been listed as the most expensive warship in the history of its fleet costing $13 billion! Are you wondering where all that money went? Well here is a glimpse at this amazing piece of machinery.
The USS Gerald Ford is set to be deployed sometime in 2016. The USS Gerald Ford will also be accompanied by a carrier fleet.
The purpose of the USS Gerald Ford is to relieve stress and overdeployment within the US Navy. There are currently 10 carriers, but the Navy feels another carrier is needed to relieve the stress that comes with deployment, not only with the troops but also the machinery.
When they were designing the Ford-class carriers, they knew they had to make some changes. The new Ford-class carriers will generate three times more electrical power than the older carriers.
With the changes that were made to the Ford-class carriers, they’ll be able to use a new electrical power supply called Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS). This will allow each vessel to launch 25% more aircrafts per day! That’s a huge increase.
Because of the electricity that will now be found on board the Ford-class carriers, these carriers will be ideal when it comes to field laser and directed-energy weapons. Some of these weapons will include rail guns and missile interceptors.
The USS Gerald Ford will be 1092 feet long! That’s 1/5th mile long.
Because of its size, it’ll be able to hold a lot of staff and also a lot more aircrafts. To be exact, it’ll hold approximately 4400 people and 75 aircrafts. The aircraft that the USS Gerald Ford will carry will be F-35s and once available, it’ll also hold carrier-based drone aircraft.
Even though the Ford-class carriers will be unlike anything that’s ever been used or seen before, some people are questioning the cost and motives behind the carriers. The reason behind the questioning is that some countries like China are currently developing carrier-killing long-range anti-ship cruise missiles.
Get a great glimpse at the USS Gerald Ford in the video below:
While some may not agree with the cost of the USS Gerald Ford and its fleet of carriers, it is comforting to know that your country is doing everything it can to protect its citizens. The USS Gerald Ford is a massive piece of machinery, and I’m sure the military will be very happy to have it in its fleet. One day, down the road, you may even get to tour it, but not until it sails out into the ocean with members of the US Navy aboard.
source: BusinessInsider