Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier

*Gerald R. Ford*-class aircraft carrier
	USS Gerald R. Ford underway in April 2017
Class overview
Name	Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier
Builders	Newport News Shipbuilding
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Nimitz class
Cost	Program cost: US$37.30 billion (FY2018); Unit cost: US$12.998 billion (FY2018);
In service	2017–present
Planned	10
On order	1
Building	2
Completed	1
Active	1
General characteristics
Type	Aircraft carrier
Displacement	About 100,000 long tons (100,000 tonnes) (full load)
Length	1,092 ft (333 m) – 1,106 ft (337 m)
Beam	256 ft (78 m) (flight deck); 134 ft (41 m) (waterline);
Height	250 feet (76 m)
Draft	39 ft (12 m)
Decks	25
Installed power	Two Bechtel A1B PWR nuclear reactors, HEU 93.5%
Propulsion	Four shafts
Speed	In excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	Unlimited
Endurance	50-year service life
Complement	508 officers; 3,789 enlisted;
Crew	About 2,600
Sensors and ; processing systems	AN/SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar (MFR) X band active electronically scanned array; AN/SPY-4 Volume Search Radar (VSR) S band active electronically scanned array (CVN-78); AN/SPY-6 Volume Search Radar (VSR) S band active electronically scanned array (CVN-79 and up);
Electronic warfare ; & decoys	AN/SLQ-32(V)6 electronic warfare system; AN/SLQ-25C Nixie towed torpedo decoys;
Armament	Surface-to-air missiles:; 2 × Mk 29 Guided Missile Launching Systems, 8 × RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) each; 2 × Mk 49 Guided Missile Launching Systems, 21 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles each; Guns:; 3 × Phalanx CIWS; 4 × Mk 38 25 mm Machine Gun Systems; 4 × M2 .50 Cal. (12.7 mm) machine guns;
Aircraft carried	75+
Aviation facilities	1,092 ft × 252 ft (333 m × 77 m) flight deck

The Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are currently being constructed for the United States Navy, which intends to eventually acquire ten of these ships in order to replace current carriers on a one-for-one basis, starting with the lead ship of her class, Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), replacing Enterprise (CVN-65), and later the Nimitz-class carriers. The new vessels have a hull similar to the Nimitz class, but they carry technologies since developed with the CVN(X)/CVN-21 program, such as the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), as well as other design features intended to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs, including sailing with smaller crews. This class of aircraft carriers is named after former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. CVN-78 was procured in 2008 and commissioned into service on 22 July 2017. The second ship of the class, John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), is scheduled to enter service in 2025.

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