The USS Gerald R. Ford has arrived in Caribbean waters to support the U.S. deployment aimed at dismantling criminal organizations. It is the world’s largest aircraft carrier, with a capacity for 4,500 crew members and 70 aircraft.
The U.S. Navy describes it as the “world’s most capable, versatile, and lethal combat platform.”
Its construction began in November 2009, and it was launched on November 9, 2013, at the Newport News Naval Shipyard in Virginia. It entered service on July 22, 2017, in a ceremony presided over by Donald Trump, who was in the early months of his first term.
The Gerald R. Ford, which is over 335 meters long and nuclear-powered, is equipped with a pioneering electromagnetic catapult launch system, advanced radars, and nuclear reactors that provide uninterrupted power to its engines.
The ship, with a displacement of up to 100,000 tons, carries ESSM self-defense missiles and the CIWS short-range weapon system. Its construction cost approximately $13 billion.
