Summary and Key Points: The Ford-class aircraft carriers, like the USS Gerald R. Ford, are the latest nuclear-powered carriers in the U.S. Navy, designed to replace the aging Nimitz-class. Despite advanced technologies like the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), the Ford-class faces significant challenges.
-Reliability issues with these systems, coupled with untested weapons elevators and jet blast deflectors, raise concerns about their combat effectiveness and high costs.
-With increasing threats from enemy A2/AD capabilities, the Ford-class carriers may struggle to justify their investment.
TheFord-class Carrier’s Flank Speed Might Not Be Enough
America’s great love affair with theaircraft carriercontinues unabated, with the creation of theFord-class aircraft carrier. Its namesake, theUSSGerald R. Ford,named after America’s thirty-eighth president, is the latest class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service to the United States Navy. These boats are intended to slowly replace the tenNimitz-classcarriers that have been in operation since the 1970s. The USSGerald R. Fordwas commissioned in 2017.
Ford-class carriers are equipped with twoBechtel A1B nuclear reactors, which provide the ship with an astonishing speed of over 35 miles per hour. This is comparable to the speed of theNimitz-class aircraft carrier. For a warship of this size, that is an incredible feat. However, given that theNimitz-class carriers can do the same—and they’re cheaper to build and maintain than theFord-class—it begs the question as to why the Navy really needed theFord-class carriers.
The Navy says that theFord-class carriers are designed to be more efficient and have a higher sortie generation rate than theirNimitz-class predecessors. The ship’s design allows for a more efficient flow of aircraft, fuel, and ordnance, which helps to increase the number of aircraft that can be launched and recovered in a given time period.
Understanding theFord-ClassCapabilities
Yet, the real challenge to U.S. aircraft carriers today, regardless of their class, isenemy anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilitiesthat are meant to blunt the power projection capabilities of U.S. aircraft carriers by keeping them outside of the operational range of their air wings (meaning that they are rendered combat ineffective).
TheFord-class carriers are equipped with a bevy of new, advanced technologies meant to augment their operations, including things like theElectromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS)and theAdvanced Arresting Gear (AAG),which are designed to improve the efficiency and safety of aircraft launch and recovery operations.
A singleFord-class carriercostsmore than $13 billion to build. It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars more to maintain over the course of its service. The Navy insists that the maintenance costs for theFord-class will be lower than those of the olderNimitz-class carriers.
But that remains very much in doubt.
Because of the inclusion of so many advanced, and frankly untested, systems supporting the new carrier’s operations, the USSGerald R. Ford(CVN-78) has already faced several issues since its commissioning in 2017. Such issues have increased the cost of the warship and even delayed its entry into service, creating significant strategic gaps in the Navy’s surface fleet disposition and capabilities.
Complications for theFord-Class
Some notable problems included reliability issues afflicting the aforementioned EMALS and AAG launch systems. The EMALS has had a failure rate that places it well below expectations and the AAG, designed to catch landing aircraft, has experienced similar reliability issues. This, of course, means that the safety of naval aviators—and their expensive aircraft—is put in significant jeopardy.
Meanwhile, theFord-class weapons elevators have malfunctioned more than they have performed as expected. There are elevenadvanced weapons elevators (AWEs)meant to rapidly move bombs and missiles from the ship’s magazines to the flight deck. In a heavy firefight, in which the safety of the warship itself was in question—or in which the ship’s airwing was called upon to engage in massive deployments—failure of these AWEs could lead to the destruction of the warship in battle and the defeat of the United States Navy.
Jet Blast Deflectors (JBD) protectthe flight deck from the intense heat generated by aircraft engines during takeoff. These systems have struggled with reliability problems, notably regarding their electromechanical actuator subsystems. Again, even without the threat of enemy A2/AD fire damaging the carrier’s critical flight deck, if the deck is not protected from the wear-and-tear of combat operations, it won’t last long in combat, making the carrier a wasting asset.
Because of these issues, there have been significant cost overruns and delays, prompting many analysts to question whether the investment into theFord class was even worth the price tag. It likely was not.
MoreFord-class Carriers to Be Added
There are currently threeFord-class carriers being built, with two more planned for the future. Of those carriers, the USSGerald R. Fordis actively serving in the fleet, even recently being deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean in response to the horrific Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023. TheUSS John F. Kennedy(CVN-79),theUSSEnterprise(CVN-8), and theUSSDoris Miller(CVN-81)are all in the construction pipeline.
Higher sortie rates, greater technology, and an impressive flanking speed make these carriers appealing to the U.S. Navy. It remains to be seen, however, whether these carriers will overcome the serious—and growing—A2/AD challenge posed by America’s rivals, notably China.
Author Experience and Expertise: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is due October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock. All photos are of various submarine styles.
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