Features
· Keel Laid: November 2009
· Christening: November 9, 2013
· Propulsion: Two nuclear reactors, four shafts
· Length: 1,092 feet
· Beam: 134 feet,
· Flight Deck Width: 256 feet
· Displacement: Approximately 100,000 long tons full load
· Speed: 30+ knots (34.5+ miles per hour)
· Builder: Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding
· Ship’s Sponsor: Susan Ford Bales, daughter of Gerald R. Ford
· Crew: 4,539 (ship, air wing and staff); 2,700 (ship’s company)
· Armament: Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, Rolling Airframe Missile, Close-in Weapons System (CIWS)
· Aircraft: 75+
Technologies Introduced to Ford-Clas
· Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG)
· Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS)
· Dual Band Radar (DBR)
· Advanced Weapons Elevators (AWE) and Vertically Integrated Stores Elevators
· Propulsion Plants
· Zonal Electrical Distribution System (ZEDS)
· Electrical Power Distribution System (400 HZ Static Frequency Converters)
· All Electric Auxiliary Systems
· Machinery Control and Monitoring Systems (MCMS)
· Combat Systems Local Area Network (CSLAN)
· Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services (CANES)
· Ships Self Defense System (SSDS)
· Steering and Hydraulic Control Systems
· Navigation Network
· Heavy Underway Replenishment
· JP-5 (carrier jet fuel) Fuel Handling and Storage
· Jet Blast Deflectors (JBD)
· Aviation Electrical Servicing System (AESS)
· Aircraft Elevators, automatic deck stanchions and associated support systems
· CVN 78 Video Distribution System
· Hangar Bay Conflagration Monitoring Station
· Drainage and Ballast System
· Magazine Sprinkling
· Plasma Arc Waste Destruction System
Flight Deck (Largest and most advanced flight deck in the fleet)
· EMALS — Upgraded from steam catapults, EMALS on Ford-class uses stored kinetic energy and solid-state electrical power conversion to launch aircraft, permitting a high degree of computer control, monitoring and automation. EMALS improves takeoff speed while reducing wear on aircraft. Reduces cost for maintenance and support. Reduces personnel required to operate by one third. Allows for quieter and cooler work and living spaces for Sailors. Can launch aircraft every 30 seconds (60 seconds on average to include reload time).
· AAG — Recovers a greater range of aircraft and limits the impact load on aircraft.
· Electromechanical Actuators (EMA) — For jet blast deflectors and barricade stanchion.
· Length — 1,092 ft. (more than 3.5 football fields)
· Width — 256 ft.
· Island Placement — 140 feet further aft from Nimitz-class carriers, increasing efficacy, creating more “real estate” on the flight deck to launch and recover aircraft.
· In-Deck Fueling — Ford-class has the ability to refuel jets from the center of the flight deck, improving the ship’s ability to reload and relaunch aircraft.
