Lasers to be included on the USS Ford class CVNs?
Defense NewsQuote:
With laser weapons coming, the US Navy’s newest super carrier has space and power to spare
By: David B. Larter 8 hours ago
ABOARD THE USS GERALD R. FORD IN THE VIRGINIA CAPES – The is U.S. Navy desperately trying to get away from shooting down anti-ship missiles with other missiles, and the carrier Gerald R. Ford could prove useful in the pursuit of alternatives.
A major difference with Ford over its Nimitz-class predecessors is its twin A1B nuclear reactors that produce more than three times the electrical power of the reactors on Nimitz: More than 100 megawatts.
That means Ford, with survivability questions looming over aircraft carriers generally, can support large power-sucking equipment such as lasers, according to Capt. J.J. Cummings, the Ford’ commanding officer.
“When you talk about innovation in the Navy, this is where it lives,” Cummings said, referring to his ship. “We’re lighter – designed lighter –than Nimitz class.
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Defense NewsQuote:
The carrier Ford is trying to shake years of controversy and find its groove
By: David B. Larter
5:17 PM
(David B. Larter/Staff)
ABOARD THE CARRIER GERALD R. FORD IN THE VIRGINIA CAPES — Capt. J.J. Cummings is literally jumping up and down with excitement.
“Ahhhhhh I love that s---!” he shouts as the roar of an F/A-18 Super Hornet’s twin engines fades into the distance.
The fighter jet’s low flyby a few hundred yards off the port side of the U.S. Navy’s most expensive-ever warship is a loud reminder that the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford isn’t a construction project anymore.
For Cummings, the ship’s Massachusetts-born commanding officer, and for the ship’s crew, Ford is now a living, breathing warship with jets operating from its $13 billion flight deck. “I could watch flybys all day,” the career fighter pilot said Jan. 27 during a visit by Defense News aboard the vessel.
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