USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) departed Naval Station Norfolk to transit to Newport News Shipbuilding in support of her Planned Incremental Availability (PIA), a six-month period of modernization, maintenance, and repairs, Aug. 20, 2021. US Navy Photo
After three bulkhead-rattling explosions off the coast of Florida, carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and its crew began the ship’s last repair period before a long-delayed deployment. Read More
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) successfully completes the third and final scheduled explosive event for Full Ship Shock Trials while underway in the Atlantic Ocean on Aug. 8, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s newest aircraft carrier finished shock trial testing on Sunday after the service detonated the third and last explosive charge near the ship’s hull off the coast of Florida. Read More
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) completes the first scheduled explosive event of Full Ship Shock Trials while underway in the Atlantic Ocean on June 18, 2021. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated with additional footage from the shock trial.
The Navy blasted its newest carrier with thousands of pounds of explosives in the Atlantic Ocean on Friday to simulate how the ship would perform in battle conditions, according to images released by the service and government earthquake monitors. Read More
Seaman Saruis Webb, from Chicago, assigned to USS Gerald R. Ford’s (CVN-78) weapons department, stands an armed watch with an H-2B .50 caliber machine gun during sea and anchor on April 14, 2021. US Navy Photo
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and its air wing and strike group had a chance to fully show off their combat capabilities, using a recent at-sea testing period to demonstrate not only that Ford can keep up with its Nimitz-class counterparts but can use its new gear to perform better and faster, leaders in the strike group told USNI News today. Read More
The flight deck crew of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) launches and recovers F/A-18E-F Super Hornets from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 122 as pilots in the West Coast fleet replacement squadron conduct carrier qualifications on March 9, 2021. USNI News photo.
ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS GERALD R. FORD, IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN – When new commanding officer Capt. Paul Lanzilotta wakes up each morning on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), his long and diverse to-do list highlights the balance the aircraft carrier is trying to strike as it wraps up its new-ship testing and prepares for shock trials this summer, while also carrying out other duties as the only available aircraft carrier on the East Coast. Read More
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 3rd Class Darius Jarmon lubricates an electromagnetic aircraft launching system (EMALS) catapult aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) in 2017. US Navy Photo
The Navy still isn’t sure if a recent fault in the aircraft launching system onboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) was caused by a problem with the equipment itself or the procedures used to operate it, but the service’s top acquisition official said he’s confident in the system and that any remaining weak points are being wrung out during an ongoing post-delivery test and trials period. Read More
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) Transits the Atlantic Ocean on June 4, 2020. US Navy Photo
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) returned to port Sunday after its latest at-sea testing period with mixed results. While the carrier operated with the most complex air wing to date, the ship’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) suffered a failure that prevented the carrier from launching planes for five days, the Navy announced in a Sunday statement. Read More
USS Gerald R. Ford’s (CVN-78) flight deck May 30, 2020. US Navy Photo
If the Navy has spent the last three years taking USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) from a construction project to a platform that can launch and recover jets, the service is now taking steps to turn the ship into one that can fight in maritime combat. Read More
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) transits the Atlantic Ocean, May 13, 2020. Gerald R. Ford is underway in the Atlantic Ocean conducting carrier qualifications. US Navy photo.
Maintenance teams working on aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) are accomplishing about 30 percent more work than planned during in-ports periods between underway testing, helping to reduce the amount of time the carrier will likely spend in the repair yard after full-ship shock trials next year and becoming a fully available fleet asset. Read More
Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) Derrick Williams, from Charlotte, North Carolina, USS Gerald R. Ford’s (CVN 78) flight deck leading chief petty officer, goes over flight deck operations inside Ford’s flight deck control, prior to flight operations in the Atlantic Ocean, March 23, 2020. US Navy photo.
New aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) completed its Flight Deck Certification (FDC) and Carrier Air Traffic Control Center (CATCC) Certification on March 20, following two days of intense flight deck operations to prove the ship and crew’s capabilities. Read More
