US Navy's Largest Aircraft Carrier Embarks On Its First Deployment

The US Navy, with its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, marked a significant milestone by setting sail on its first deployment on Tuesday. The ship bears the 38th US President's name.

The USS Gerald R Ford, which cost more than USD 13 billion will be on a mission that includes training in air defence, anti-submarine warfare and amphibious operations and will collaborate with Canada, France and Germany.

Before the ship's departure, Admiral Daryl Caudle released a statement stating that the ship's deployment would "show its unrivalled, multi-domain, full-spectrum lethality in the Atlantic."

The US Navy said the deployment will involve 9,000 people, 20 ships, and 60 aircraft from nine different countries. 

The huge carrier, which was inducted into service in 2017, is more than 335 metres long and can carry 101,000 tonnes of cargo when fully loaded and is still capable of sailing at a pace of over 54 kilometres per hour.

According to a June 2022 report to Congress, the rate at which it can launch and retrieve aircraft is expected to be a significant advancement over prior carriers, but there have been problems with the equipment involved.

The Government Accountability Office report stated that the carrier's electromagnetic aircraft launch system and advanced arresting gear, "could prevent the ship from demonstrating one of its key requirements—rapidly deploying aircraft."

Problems have also been reported with the ship's weapons elevators, which transport missiles and bombs from their magazines to the deck so they can be loaded onto aircraft.

“The US military first deters evil actors and messy wars—most clearly through US Navy carrier strike groups. We have a lot of bases and equipment that are susceptible in the next conflict if deterrence fails,” Mackenzie Eaglen said, a senior scholar and defence expert at the American Enterprise Institute.

She also said, "While the US disputes the utility of the carrier, other nations like India, China, France, UK, Australia and Italy are busy investing substantially in aircraft carriers, which speaks to the ship's enduring utility in both peacetime and war.”