The USS Gerald R. Ford conducting sea trials with Strike Group off the coast of New Jersey in late 2020 .<\/p>\n
Following years of delays and problems with its new technology, the U.S. Navy\u2019s most advanced aircraft carrier embarks on its first deployment next week and will train with other NATO countries at a time of increasing Russian aggression in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The USS Gerald R. Ford leaves the world\u2019s largest Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, Monday along with destroyers and other warships, the U.S. Navy said in a statement Thursday. The carrier strike group will join ships in the Atlantic Ocean from countries that include France, Germany and Sweden for various exercises, including anti-submarine warfare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Atlantic is an area of strategic interest,\u201d Vice Admiral Daniel Dwyer said in a statement. \u201cOur primary goal is to contribute to a peaceful, stable and conflict-free Atlantic region through the combined naval power of our Allies and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dwyer commands the U.S. Navy’s 2nd Fleet<\/a>, which oversees American warships as they deploy between the U.S. East Coast and the Barents Sea, off of the coasts of Norway and Russia. The U.S. has sharpened its focus on the North Atlantic in recent years after the Russian military ramped up operations to a pace not seen since the end of the Cold War.<\/p>\n Next week\u2019s exercises come seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine<\/a>. Western countries, including the U.S., have provide weapons to Ukraine, increasing tensions with the Kremlin. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to send more troops into battle and potentially use nuclear weapons<\/a> to ward off Ukraine\u2019s attempt to reclaim control of Moscow-occupied areas.<\/p>\n Bradley Martin, a senior policy researcher with the RAND Corporation, told The Associated Press that next week\u2019s exercises will showcase American military capabilities and support for NATO. Concerns about Russia are part of the mission\u2019s broader calculus.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re also showing Russia that there are an array of forces they\u2019d have to deal with if they go beyond Ukraine or escalate in Ukraine in ways we find unacceptable,\u201d said Martin, a retired Navy captain.<\/p>\n American aircraft carriers demonstrate the U.S.\u2019s unique ability to dispatch warplanes around the world, Martin said. Despite the USS Ford\u2019s well-publicized problems, he said it\u2019s still part of a larger display of the nation\u2019s military might.<\/p>\n The $13.3 billion warship \u2014 the nation\u2019s most expensive \u2014 is the first of the Navy\u2019s new Ford class of aircraft carriers. They\u2019re designed to carry a wider variety of planes and operate with several hundred fewer sailors. They use an electromagnetic system for launching planes, which replace steam catapults and are supposed to increase flying missions by a third.<\/p>\n The Ford\u2019s first deployment comes five years after it was commissioned<\/a>. And it\u2019s been beset by various issues, including problems with the launch system and the elevators that bring missiles and bombs to jets on the flight deck.<\/p>\n A Congressional Research Service report<\/a> from late August stated that the Navy had \u201cstruggled to meet promises it repeatedly made\u201d to defense oversight committees to complete, test and certify the weapons elevators. The Navy said the ship\u2019s 11th and final weapons elevator was certified in December.<\/p>\n