after seven days of builders trials in April 2017. The in US naval service have been part of United States
power projection strategy since
Nimitz was commissioned in 1975. The design has accommodated many new technologies over the decades, but it has limited ability to support the most recent technical advances. As a 2005
RAND report said, "The biggest problems facing the
Nimitz class are the limited electrical power generation capability and the upgrade-driven increase in ship weight and erosion of the
center-of-gravity margin needed to maintain ship stability." With these constraints in mind, the US Navy developed what was initially known as the CVN-21 program, which evolved into CVN-78,
Gerald R. Ford. Improvements were made through developing technologies and more efficient design. Major design changes include a larger
flight deck, improvements in weapons and material handling, a new propulsion plant design that requires fewer people to operate and maintain, and a new, smaller island that has been pushed aft. Technological advances in electromagnetics have led to the development of an
Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and an Advanced
Arresting Gear (AAG). An integrated warfare system, the
Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS), has been developed to allow the ship to more easily take on new missions. The new Dual Band Radar (DBR) combines
S-band and
X-band radar. These advances are intended to allow
Ford-class carriers to launch 25% more
sorties, generate triple the electrical power with improved efficiency, and offer crew quality-of-life improvements over the
Nimitz design. These elevators are located so that ordnance need not cross any areas of aircraft movement, thereby reducing traffic problems in the hangars and on the flight deck. In 2008, Rear Admiral Dennis M. Dwyer said these changes will make it hypothetically possible to rearm the airplanes in "minutes instead of hours".
Power generation The Bechtel
A1B reactor for the
Gerald R. Ford class is smaller and simpler, requires fewer crew, and yet is far more powerful than the
Nimitz-class
A4W reactor. Two reactors will be installed on each
Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, providing a power generation capacity at least 25% greater than the 550 MW (thermal) of the two A4W reactors in a
Nimitz-class carrier. The portion of thermal power allotted to electrical generation will be tripled. The propulsion and power plant of the
Nimitz-class carriers were designed in the 1960s, when onboard technologies required less electrical power. "New technologies added to the
Nimitz-class ships have generated increased demands for electricity; the current base load leaves little margin to meet expanding demands for power." The
Gerald R. Ford-class ships convert steam into power by piping it to four main turbine generators (MTG) to generate electricity for major ship systems, and the new electromagnetic catapults. A larger power output is a major component of the
integrated warfare system. Engineers took extra steps to ensure that integrating unforeseen technological advances onto a
Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier would be possible. The Navy expects the
Gerald R. Ford class will be part of the fleet for 90 years, until the year 2105, which means that the class must successfully accept new technology over the decades. Only half of the electric power generation capacity is used by currently planned systems, with half remaining available for future technologies.
Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) launches aircraft by means of a
catapult employing a
linear induction motor rather than the
steam piston used on the
Nimitz class. The EMALS accelerates aircraft more smoothly, putting less stress on their airframes. The EMALS also weighs less, is expected to cost less and require less maintenance, and can launch both heavier and lighter aircraft than a steam piston-driven system. It also reduces the carrier's requirement for fresh water, thus reducing the demand for energy-intensive
desalination.
Advanced Arresting Gear landing system Electromagnets are used in the
Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) system. The energy absorption is controlled by a turbo-electric engine. This makes the trap smooth and reduces shock on airframes.
Sensors and self-defense systems Another addition to the
Gerald R. Ford class is an integrated
active electronically scanned array search and tracking radar system. The dual-band radar (DBR) was being developed by
Raytheon, for both the
Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers and the
Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers. The island can be kept smaller by replacing six to ten radar antennas with a single six-faced radar. The DBR works by combining the
X band AN/SPY-3 multifunction radar with the
S band AN/SPY-4 Volume Search Radar (VSR) emitters, distributed into three
phased arrays. The S-band radar was later deleted from the
Zumwalt-class destroyers to save money. Driven by a need for a lower-cost radar system, the Navy installed the
AN/SPY-6(V)3 Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) starting with the second
Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, , in lieu of the DBR. The EASR suite's initial per-unit cost of about $180 million was less than the DBR, which was about $500 million. The AN/SPQ-9B complements the AN/SPY-6(V)3 EASR. Waste management technology will be deployed on
Gerald R. Ford. Co-developed with the
Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, PyroGenesis Canada Inc. - was in 2008 awarded the contract to outfit the ship with a
Plasma Arc Waste Destruction System (PAWDS). This compact system will treat all combustible solid waste generated on board the ship. After having completed factory acceptance testing in
Montreal, the system was scheduled to be shipped to the
Huntington Ingalls shipyard in late 2011 for installation on the carrier. The Navy is developing a
free-electron laser (FEL) to defend against cruise missiles and small-boat swarms.
3D computer-aided design Newport News Shipbuilding used a full-scale three-dimensional product model developed in Dassault Systèmes
CATIA V5 to design and plan the construction of the
Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers. The CVN 78 class was designed to have better weapons movement paths, largely eliminating horizontal movements within the ship. Current plans call for advanced weapons elevators to move from storage areas to dedicated weapons handling areas. Sailors would use motorized carts to move the weapons from storage to the elevators at different levels of the weapons magazines. Linear motors are being considered for the advanced weapons elevators. The elevators will also be relocated such that they will not impede aircraft operations on the flight deck. The redesign of the weapons movement paths and the location of the weapons elevators on the flight deck will reduce manpower and contribute to a much higher sortie generation rate.
Crew accommodations Systems that reduce crew workload have allowed the
ship's company on
Gerald R. Ford-class carriers to total only 2,600 sailors, about 700 fewer than a
Nimitz-class carrier. The massive, 180-man
berthing areas on the
Nimitz class are replaced by 40-rack berthing areas on
Gerald R. Ford-class carriers. The smaller berthings are quieter and the layout requires less foot traffic through other spaces. and sinks to reduce travel and traffic to access those facilities.
WiFi-enabled lounges are located across the passageway in separate spaces from the berthing's racks. Since deployment, the first two carriers of the class have run into problems with the plumbing of the waste system. The pipes were too narrow to handle the load of users, resulting in the vacuum failing and repeatedly clogged toilets. To alleviate the problem, specialized acidic cleaning solutions have been used to flush out the sewage system. These cleaning treatments cost about $400,000 each time, resulting in a substantial unplanned increase in the lifetime expense of operating these ships according to the
GAO. These cleanings will have to be performed for the lifetime of the ship. ==Construction==