DefenceTalkATLANTIC OCEAN: USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the only carrier qualification (CQ) asset regularly available on the East Coast this year, commenced its second round of CQs for Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) pilots May 10, with a healthy and mission-focused crew. Ford, operating at-sea at the same time as four other U.S. aircraft carriers, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/ford-commences-second-round-of-aircraft-carrier-qualifications-75560/

DefenceTalkUSS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) recently completed testing of vital combat systems while underway in the Atlantic Ocean. These tests, conducted during Ford’s post-delivery test and trials (PDT&T) phase, are designed to stress the ship’s combat system capabilities and demonstrate the successful integration of new technologies, which the crew employs to defend the aircraft […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-tests-uss-gerald-r-ford-combat-systems-75109/

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) departed its homeport of Norfolk, Jan. 16 to begin Aircraft Compatibility Testing (ACT) off the East Coast as the first aircraft, an E-2D landed, on board. ACT continues the at-sea testing of Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) – two Aircraft Launch […]

DefenceTalkThe future USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is underway for its first set of sea trials, known as Builder’s Sea Trials (BST). Builder’s sea trials provide an opportunity to test systems, components and compartments at sea for the first time. Over the next several days, CVN 78 Sailors, shipbuilders from Huntington Ingalls Industries – […]https://www.defencetalk.com/future-uss-gerald-r-ford-underway-for-builders-sea-trials-69692/

DefenceTalkThe Navy conducted the first-ever, shipboard, full-speed catapult shots using the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) aboard the aircraft carrier Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), Naval Sea Systems Command announced May 15. EMALS is a carrier-based launch system designed to expand the operational capability of the Navy’s future carriers to include all […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-announces-successful-test-of-electromagnetic-catapult-on-cvn-78-64244/

DefenceTalkHuntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division today christened Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the first ship of the next-generation class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. “There is perhaps no more visible or powerful representation of America’s military strength than the hull that towers above us,” said U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who served as […]https://www.defencetalk.com/aircraft-carrier-gerald-r-ford-cvn-78-christened-at-newport-news-shipbuilding-49604/

DefenceTalkBy Rear Adm. Tom Moore, Program Executive Officer, Aircraft Carriers This year has been an exciting and rewarding year for aircraft carriers. In December 2012, we said good-bye to probably our most legendary aircraft carrier and held a formal inactivation ceremony for USS Enterprise (CVN 65). She is now at Huntington Ingalls-Newport News to begin […]https://www.defencetalk.com/cvn-78-a-true-leap-ahead-for-the-navy-and-naval-aviation-48342/