U.S. Navy Takes Delivery of First Next-Generation Aircraft Carrier, Gerald R. Ford – gCaptain
▻http://gcaptain.com/u-s-navy-takes-delivery-of-first-next-generation-aircraft-carrier-gerald-r
The Gerald R. Ford class, designed to replace Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, delivers greater flexibility than its predecessors due to its larger flight deck, the ability to host more aircraft, additional weapons and aviation fuel storage, and a new electromagnetic aircraft launch and advanced arresting system. The Ford class also features a new nuclear power plant and a redesigned island, and will be able to increase sortie rates by one-third when compared to the Nimitz class. Further, the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier generates three times the amount of electricity as previous classes and is designed to rapidly add capabilities as new systems become available over the course of its projected 50-year service life.
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Ford is expected to be operational in 2020 following achievement of initial operational capability.
À propos de sa catapulte électromagnétique dont la mise au point à été laborieuse, les propos d’un expert :
Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System - Wikipedia
▻https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_Aircraft_Launch_System
In May 2017, President Donald Trump criticized EMALS during an interview with Time, saying:
"It sounded bad to me. Digital. They have digital. What is digital? And it’s very complicated, you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out. And I said–and now they want to buy more aircraft carriers. I said what system are you going to be–’Sir, we’re staying with digital.’ I said no you’re not. You’re going to goddamned steam, the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good.