Airfields Afloat: The USA’s New Gerald Ford Class Super-Carriers

CVN-79 Concept

CVN 79 early concept
(click to enlarge)

November 10/23: New Facility HII Newport News Shipbuilding has established a new campus in Norfolk, Virginia, to further enhance its capability to support US Navy vessel construction programs. The center will be in Fairwinds Landing and is already in use for steel panel fabrication for the future USS Enterprise CVN 80, the service’s third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier.

 

 

 

For more on this and other stories, please consider purchasing a membership.
If you are already a subscriber, login to your account.
USA’s Nimitz Class & UK’s Invincible Class (click to view full) Some nations have aircraft carriers. The USA has super-carriers. The French Charles De Gaulle Class nuclear carriers displace about 43,000t. India’s new Vikramaditya/ Admiral Gorshkov Class will have a similar displacement. The future British CVF Queen Elizabeth Class and related French PA2 Project are expected to displace about 65,000t, while the British Invincible Class carriers that participated in the Falklands War weigh in at just 22,000t. Invincible actually compares well to Italy’s excellent new Cavour Class (27,000t), and Spain’s Principe de Asturias Class (17,000t). The USA’s Nimitz Class and CVN-21 Gerald R. Ford Class, in contrast, fall in the 90,000+ tonne range. Hence their unofficial designation: “super-carriers”. Just one of these ships packs a more potent air force than many nations. Nimitz Class cutaway (click to view full) As the successor to the 102,000 ton Nimitz Class super-carriers, the CVN-21 program aimed to increase aircraft sortie generation rates by 20%, increase survivability to better handle future threats, require fewer sailors, and have depot maintenance requirements that could support an increase of up to 25% in operational availability. The combination of a new design nuclear propulsion plant and an improved […]

One Source: Hundreds of programs; Thousands of links, photos, and analyses

DII brings a complete collection of articles with original reporting and research, and expert analyses of events to your desktop – no need for multiple modules, or complex subscriptions. All supporting documents, links, & appendices accompany each article.

Benefits

  • Save time
  • Eliminate your blind spots
  • Get the big picture, quickly
  • Keep up with the important facts
  • Stay on top of your projects or your competitors

Features

  • Coverage of procurement and doctrine issues
  • Timeline of past and future program events
  • Comprehensive links to other useful resources