USS Gerald R. Ford" aircraft carrier (CVN 78) is the lead ship of Ford class and costs 13 billions dollars, which is the most expensive warship ever of US Navy. USS Gerald R. Ford was christened on 9 November 2013 and delivered to the Navy on 31 May 2017 and formally commissioned on 22 July 2017. The Ford took 8 years to build and became the most powerful strike force in the world.
USS Ford applied serval hi-tech: first-in-class technology includes a new nuclear plant A1B, 4 electromagnetic aircraft launch systems (EMALS), a phased-array dual band radar (DBR) , shipborne laser defense system and so on.
USS Ford has different kind of shipborne attack and air defense self-defense weapons, including RIM-162ESSM, RIM-116RAM， The Phalanx CIWS, Mark 38 25 mm machine gun system.
USS Ford could carry up to 90 aircrafts including the F-35C Lightning, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, E-2 Hawkeye, EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft, MH-60R/S helicopters, as well as unmanned air and combat vehicles (CVW-8), having the largest numbers of the aircrafts carried.
Gerald R. Ford left Naval Station Norfolk for the Task Force Exercise (TFEX) on 4 October 2022. The carrier was to conduct operations and training exercises alongside NATO allies and partners throughout the Atlantic Ocean. On 3 May 2023, Gerald R. Ford departed Naval Station Norfolk on her first full length deployment and is scheduled to be operating in the 2nd and 6th Fleet's Area of Responsibility (AOR). On 24 May 2023 the ship arrived just outside Oslo, Norway for NATO exercises, hosting a visit from Norway's Crown Prince Haakon. She is scheduled to head towards the Arctic later for further drills. In early October 2023, Gerald R. Ford conducted naval exercises with the Italian navy in the Ionian Sea. On 8 October 2023, Ford Group is directed to the Eastern Mediterranean "to bolster regional deterrence efforts" in the Arab region.
