The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, which the U.S. Navy touts as “the world’s most capable, adaptable and lethal combat platform,” is being sent to the Caribbean as the Trump administration ramps up military pressure on Venezuela over drug trafficking allegations.
Here’s a look at Ford and the military assets it brings to U.S. operations in the region.
Displacing more than 100,000 tons and measuring 1,100 feet (334 meters) in length, Ford is the largest warship ever launched at sea by the United States.
It is the first aircraft carrier in its class, commissioned in 2017, and will replace the Navy’s 10 Nimitz-class carriers scheduled to retire next year.
It carries approximately 4,600 crew members, including the air wing. It has about 20% fewer personnel than the Nimitz-class, but the Navy claims this is possible thanks to Ford’s more efficient systems.
It’s these efficiencies that make the Ford the world’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the Navy said, with its two nuclear reactors producing three times the power of a Nimitz-class ship, although the exact specifications are confidential.
This additional power will allow Ford to operate the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS). By using magnets instead of steam to power the ship’s catapults, Ford could launch the aircraft faster and carry heavier weapons and more fuel, increasing the fighter’s range and lethality.
The same science applies to the 11 advanced weapons elevators. These elevators use electromagnetic motors rather than hydraulics to move ammunition more quickly from the magazine to the flight deck and onto the aircraft.
The ship also carries the Navy’s Advanced Arresting Gear, a system that grabs the tailhook of an aircraft with a wire as it lands on the flight deck. The Navy says the digital control system will improve sortie rates and reduce energy consumption.
The Ford’s flight deck is about 4 feet wider than the Nimitz class, and its “island” (the part of the ship that towers over the flight deck) is smaller and set further aft, giving it more space to make the aircraft’s movements more manageable.
Ford’s Sharptooth is an F/A-18 fighter jet in carry.
Boeing’s twin-engine aircraft can carry a variety of air-to-air, air-to-ground, anti-ship missiles and laser-guided bombs. The maximum combat range is 1,250 miles (2,011 kilometers), according to the Navy.
Ford also has electronic jammers, airborne early warning and control aircraft, cargo planes, passenger planes, and helicopters.
However, Ford does not carry the Navy’s latest stealth fighter, the F-35C. Modifications required to support fifth-generation aircraft are not expected to occur until a future maintenance period, which has yet to be determined.
It was difficult for the Navy to get the Ford ready for combat. The service began operations in 2017, but the first deployment did not occur until 2022 as the company struggled to resolve issues with its advanced system.
The ship was first operationally deployed in 2023, making an eight-month voyage in the eastern Mediterranean following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel.
