USS Gerald R. Ford Underway for Builder's Sea Trials on 8 April 2017. (Photo: wikipedia.org)
The newest aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy’s fleet, the USS Gerald R. Ford, began its first set of sea trials, known as Builder’s Sea Trials, on Saturday.
The systems, components, and compartments of the Ford will be tested at sea for the first time, according to a news release by the U.S. Department of Defense. The $13 billion carrier, the most expensive warship ever built, departed Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, after more than a year’s delay and billions in cost overruns.
Construction on the Ford started in 2009. The Defense Department estimated the cost of the carrier at $10.5 billion, with delivery expected in 2015. But issues with the carrier’s advanced systems and technology delayed the ship.
In March, U.S. President Donald Trump promised to rebuild the U.S. military and called for a 12-carrier Navy aboard the new warship during a visit in Newport News. In his remarks, Trump called U.S. carriers “the centerpiece of American military might overseas.” “We are standing today on 4.5 acres of combat power and sovereign U.S. territory, the likes of which there is nothing to compete. There is no competition to this ship,” Trump said.
Trump called the Ford a “monument” to American might. The new warship will carry 4,500 personnel and 70 aircraft and will be able to project American power “to the farthest reaches of the world,” said the Defense Department.
Currently, the U.S Navy has 10 aircraft carriers, the Navy Times reported.
