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Many familiar faces are returning to the European Parliament's committees that deal with tech policies, but several key figures have also left the Parliament or the committees.

Summary and Key Points: Earlier this year, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) completed its first worldwide deployment, launching over 8,000 sorties in the Mediterranean in response to the Israel-Hamas war. Despite production issues, the Ford-class carrier's capabilities make it a critical asset.

-However, its high cost and vulnerability to cyber-attacks, hypersonic missiles, and UAVs raise concerns about the future of super-carriers. The Ford-class, designed to succeed the Nimitz-class, incorporates advanced technologies like EMALS and AAG, increasing sortie rates by 25% and generating triple the power.

-While modern threats challenge their effectiveness, the Navy's ability to project power globally remains crucial.

Ford-Class Aircraft Carriers: Balancing Cost, Capability, and Security

Earlier this year, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) completed its first worldwide deployment to the Mediterranean. The lead ship in the Navy’s latest class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers performed well in its extended deployment, launching over 8,000 sorties in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

While the carrier’s trajectory to sea has not been linear since its production phase due to an array of issues, the ship’s unparalleled capabilities make it an essential asset to the service.

However, some analysts have argued that the Ford-class’ hefty price tag and vulnerability to cyber-attacks, hypersonic missiles and other new threats could render the whole “super-carrier” concept obsolete.

Could the Ford-class be the last U.S. Navy aircraft carrier class ever built due to the growing threats posed to aircraft carriers that are so expensive to build? 

Introducing the Ford-class Aircraft Carrier

Perhaps the significance of nuclear-powered carriers is best exemplified by the Nimitz-class ships. For nearly fifty years, these 100,000-ton vessels have remained the mainstay of the Navy. Capable of traveling at speeds more than 30 knots powered by two A4W nuclear reactors, the Nimitz carriers have proven to play a pivotal role in the service’s fleet.

As the Nimitz-class’ successor, the Ford-class is designed to feature even greater capabilities. Born from the CVN-21 program, the Ford class was developed to feature a more efficient design than its predecessor. Specifically, the incorporation of an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALs) and an Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) have greatly enhanced the Ford ships.

What makes the Ford-class carriers so formidable?

With EMALs and AAG in place, the Ford-class carriers can launch 25% more sorties in addition to generating triple the amount of electrical power. The Ford ships are powered by the new Bechtel A1B reactor, which is more powerful than the A4W reactors that power the Nimitz ships.

The Ford-class was also designed with the future in mind. To more easily incorporate unforeseen technologies down the line, each ship in this class is designed with a larger power output.

Which weapons pose the greatest threat to carriers?

Since the Ford-class is equipped with top-of-the-line capabilities and equipment, it should be no surprise that the carrier class is quite expensive. Some analysts have argued that modern-day threats could more easily target carriers.

For instance, the increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across the globe could threaten these floating airports.

Undersea unmanned vehicles (UUAVs) and hypersonic missiles could cause the greatest damage to carriers. In addition to these low-tech threats, the Ford-class aircraft carriers, with their complex systems, could be more prone to cyber attacks.  

Regardless of these potential downsides, the Navy’s ability to launch airframes from virtually anywhere in the world from the seas is undoubtedly essential to U.S. national security.

Smaller frigates and conventionally-powered carriers could also fulfill this role, but not to the same degree and to the same level of sophistication as newer nuclear-powered vessels.

About the Author: Maya Carlin 

Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. 

Image Credit: U.S. Navy. 

Summary and Key Points: The U.S. Navy is updating its fleet, focusing on the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers to replace the outdated Enterprise and Nimitz-class carriers. Each Ford-class carrier costs $13 billion and incorporates advanced technology, costing taxpayers over $120 billion for the program.

-The Ford-class carriers feature a higher Sortie Generation Rate (SGR), the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), the Advanced Arresting Gear System (AAG), reduced manpower requirements, and lower maintenance needs.

-These advancements aim to enhance airpower projection and efficiency while reducing long-term operational costs by $4 billion over the carriers' 50-year service life.

The Evolution of Aircraft Carriers: Meet the $13 Billion Ford-Class

The US Navy is contemplating the future, most particularly, the prospect of war in the Indo-Pacific against a near-peer rival in China. Accordingly, the US Navy is updating its inventory, beginning with the cornerstone of their fleet, the aircraft carrier.

In replacing the outdated Enterprise- and Nimitz-class carriers, the Navy is currently building the most expensive warship ever developed, the Gerald R. Ford-class – each of which costs $13 billion. The cost of each Ford carrier is mild relative to the costs of the program, which incorporates several new pieces of technology, and has cost US taxpayers in excess of $120 billion.

Ford-Class: The Best of the Best in Aircraft Carriers? 

The taxpayers are expecting to receive what they paid for – that being the best aircraft carrier ever built.

So far, thanks to a slew of new tech features, the Ford indeed appears to be the most sophisticated and modern carrier ever built. Let’s consider the Ford-class’s five most important features.

One, Sortie Generation Rate

Despite an aircraft carrier’s mechanical complexity, the purpose of the boat is quite simple: to provide off-shore airpower projection. Really, an aircraft carrier is just a floating and movable airfield that can be placed roughly anywhere in the world’s oceans.

So, to be effective, an aircraft carrier needs to be able to launch aircraft. It sounds self-evident, yes, but the rate at which an aircraft carrier can launch aircraft is a primary metric in evaluating the usefulness of a particular aircraft. The metric even has a name: Sortie Generation Rate (SGR). And the higher the SGR, the better.

The Ford-class is projected to provide an excellent SGR – 33 percent more than the preceding Nimitz-class carriers. Overall, the Ford is expected to produce 160 sorties per day (270 during a wartime crunch). The high SGR makes the Ford highly effective with respect to the boat’s primary task of projecting airpower.

Two, Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS)

The Ford is equipped with an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, which is a modern alternative to the traditional steam piston catapult found on older aircraft carriers like the Nimitz and Enterprise. Whereas steam catapults use (as the name implies) steam to catapult an aircraft down the carrier’s truncated runway, the EMALS uses a linear induction motor. The EMALS’s linear induction motor generates magnetic fields that glide an airplane forward along a track.

The EMALS is considered an upgrade over the steam piston catapult because the EMALS will accelerate aircraft more smoothly (putting less wear and tear on the airframes).

Also, the EMALS will cost less, weigh less, and require less maintenance than the steam piston catapults. Additionally, the EMALS will reduce the Ford’s dependence on freshwater (and the corresponding energy-intensive desalination process). EMALS also recharges more quickly than steam, allowing for more aircraft launches (and a higher SGR).

Three, Advanced Arresting Gear System (AAG) for Ford-Class

The Advanced Arresting Gear System, or AAG, will replace the MK7 hydraulic arresting gear found on older aircraft carriers like the Nimitz and Enterprise. The AAG was built to handle a wider range of aircraft than the MK7, while using less manpower, and requiring more maintenance. The result is an arresting gear system that is more hands-off, yet can handle more aircraft.

The AAG uses rotary engines and water turbines paired with a large induction motor. The result is fine control of arresting forces – generated through a simple process. The AAG is less groundbreaking than the EMALS, but still offers an upgrade over preceding systems (and still boosts the Ford’s SGR).

Four, Manpower Reduction

Aircraft carriers are essentially floating cities. Well, maybe not cities but towns.

The Nimitz-class carrier, for example required 5,000 sailors to operate. So, inherent to the operations of the Nimitz was the feeding, housing, and paying of 5,000 people – in itself a complicated and expensive endeavor.

When designing the Ford, an effort was made to reduce the boat’s reliance on manpower; much of the Ford is built to run with automated technologies in place of sailors. The result is a carrier that needs 1,100 fewer sailors to operate than the Nimitz had needed. The 20 percent reduction in manpower requirements is expected to lead to long-term cost savings.

Five, Maintenance Reduction

The Ford was designed to operate with less maintenance than preceding aircraft carriers. So, with reducing maintenance in mind, the Ford was built with simpler nuclear reactors than the Nimitz or Enterprise. Similarly, the radar system was designed to be less finicky. And the EMALS and AAG were designed to require less maintenance than the preceding steam catapults and MK7 arresting gears.

In sum, the Ford should require significantly less maintenance over the course of its 50-year service life than older aircraft carriers required. Cost projections suggest that the Ford will save $4 billion in maintenance costs during its fifty years in service.

About the Author 

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

All images are Creative Commons. 

Summary and Key Points: The US Navy's long-standing reliance on aircraft carriers, central to its power projection since WWII, faces new challenges from advanced anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) systems developed by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. These systems threaten the effectiveness and safety of carriers, including the next-generation Ford-class carriers, which are expensive and complex to build and maintain.

-Critics argue that investing in legacy systems like the Ford-class is imprudent in an era of rising national debt and evolving threats.

-They suggest redirecting funds towards more versatile and cost-effective technologies like Virginia-class submarines, unmanned vehicles, hypersonic weapons, and directed-energy weapons to maintain US naval superiority.

The Ford-Class Mistake

The United States Navy just can’t quit its love affair with the aircraft carrier.

Since the Second World War, flat tops have been the center of the US Navy’s surface fleet. The primary projector of American maritime power, a fleet without the newest, largest, and most sophisticated floating airbases would not be the same. 

Of course, these aircraft carrier arguments are eerily similar to the ones made by proponents of battleships 80 years ago.

Back then, it was the battleship that was the centerpiece of US Navy power projection and the aircraft carriers that were viewed as strange ancillary elements in the fleet. 

That quickly changed after Japan’s surprise attack at Pearl Harbor in the Second World War. 

Today, the Navy (and its supporters in Congress) operates as though it is still 1999. There are no real challenges to American military dominance. Carriers can come-and-go as they please anywhere on the face of the planet. All the locals can do is to stand in awe of America’s might when the flat tops show up to start imposing America’s will on the foreign shores they are deployed to. 

The Enemy Gets a Vote on Aircraft Carriers 

But America’s enemies have other plans. 

Leading this charge against America’s continued global dominance is none other than the People’s Republic of China (PRC). While China has built its own rudimentary carrier force, Beijing has been more interested in depriving the Americans of their number one naval power projection platform: the aircraft carrier. China plans to do this, thanks to their robust arsenal of anti-aircraft/area denial (A2/AD) systems that can basically sink—or seriously damage—an aircraft carrier at the onset of any conflict between China and the United States. 

And these A2/AD systems are infinitely cheaper and easier to replace than an American aircraft carrier. That is one reason that China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have all invested vast sums into their respective A2/AD capabilities. The cost imbalance creates a strategic imbalance that likely favors the Chinese, Russian, North Korean, and Iranian militaries if it ever came to a showdown between their A2/AD capabilities and American flat tops. 

What’s the Point of the Ford-class Aircraft Carrier?

The Ford-class aircraft carrier is the next-generation aircraft carrier that the Navy is (slowly) building. It is intended to replace the existing fleet of 11 Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Thus far, the Navy has deployed the first of this class in 2021—the USS Gerald R. Ford—and the next unit, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) is set for deployment in 2025. After that, in 2028, will come the USS Enterprise (CVN-80). Lastly, the USS Doris Miller (CVN-81) is set for deployment in 2032. 

The USS Gerald R. Ford cost $13 billion and took more than a decade to get out of the shipyard. A year after it was deployed, in 2022, it was still enduring technical issues. The follow-on carriers in this class are expected to be cheaper. But the fact remains that the carriers are hugely expensive, take a very long time to build, and are basically so complex and expensive that they are irreplaceable. 

Since the funds have already been allocated for these warships, it will be difficult to cancel these systems. But future systems can absolutely be terminated. Especially if the United States military has not made developed any meaningful counter-A2/AD system—or anti-hypersonic weapon system—for these carriers. 

We are building big, beautiful targets against which China’s advanced rocket forces can practice with live fire. If even one of these ships is sunk or its flight deck is significantly damaged, it would become the equivalent of a strategic wasting asset. 

The Ford-class Aircraft Carrier: Decadence on Display

Diverting the funds and resources from any future Ford-class carrier after 2028 will be helpful for the US Navy to prioritize. First, it will need more Virginia-class attack submarines. Second, it will need to develop arsenals of sophisticated underwater unmanned vehicles (UUV) as well as advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Third, the Navy needs to invest in its own hypersonic weapons capacity. Fourth, Navy resources need to be put into directed-energy weapons (DEW). 

All these other expenditures, such as trying to replace the 10 Nimitz-class carriers with 10 Ford-class carriers when the Nimitz-class still has decades of service left, is one such example of wastefulness on the part of the Navy. It is the hallmark of a decadent country in decline that it has failed to adapt with the changing times. 

We are living in an era where interest payments on the national debt will soon outstrip the nearly $1 trillion US defense budget. To continue building legacy systems, like the aircraft carrier, when our enemies have developed cheaper ways of negating the efficacy of carriers in modern combat, is not just decadent. It’s irresponsible. And it could lead to the United States losing a war.

Cancel the Ford-class aircraft carrier now. 

Author Experience and Expertise: Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is due October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock. 

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