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Key Points: The U.S. Navy’s Ford-class aircraft carriers represent technological advancement but face five significant challenges.

-First, the cost is staggering, with the Gerald R. Ford exceeding $13 billion and maintenance costs nearing $27 billion over its lifetime.

-Second, construction delays have plagued the program, with delivery timelines stretching years.

-Third, evolving threats like anti-ship missiles, hypersonics, and drones put carriers at significant risk.

-Fourth, resupplying the massive vessel for long deployments remains logistically challenging.

-Lastly, advanced technologies like EMALS and Advanced Arresting Gear have faced reliability issues.

-While promising, the Ford-class program has sparked debates about cost, delays, and future survivability.

5 Biggest Problems of the U.S. Navy’s Ford-class Carrier Program

There’s no better way to project power and increase the level of national prestige than building and launching a new aircraft carrier. Floating air bases can bring the fight to the enemy, protect overseas military installations, answer threats in real time, and even assist in humanitarian operations. But they do not come without problems.

Let’s examine the U.S. Navy’s Ford-class carrier program to see if the enormous disadvantages and issues outweigh the advantages. Here are the five biggest problems with the Ford-class.

An Eye-Watering Cost

The Gerald R. Ford supercarrier cost $13.3 billion plus $5 billion in research and development for the entire Ford-class. The Gerald R. Ford had a cost growth of 23 percent from the original estimates. The Navy originally wanted to cap all Ford-class carriers at $12 billion per ship. For FY25, the Navy is requesting $2.1 billion in procurement funding for the next four carriers of the class.

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) completes the first scheduled explosive event of Full Ship Shock Trials while underway in the Atlantic Ocean, June 18, 2021. The U.S. Navy conducts shock trials of new ship designs using live explosives to confirm that our warships can continue to meet demanding mission requirements under harsh conditions they might encounter in battle.

As a comparison, the early Nimitz-class carriers cost only $4.5 billion per vessel, so there has been a substantial markup.

Maintenance costs for the lifetime of the Gerald R. Ford will be nearly $27 billion for its 50-year service life. However, the Navy estimates that the Ford will save $5 billion in maintenance costs over its lifetime due to more technologically advanced and efficient systems and the need for smaller maintenance crews.

Delays In Construction

The Ford-class carriers take a long time to build. The Ford-class program began in 2008. The Gerald R. Ford was commissioned in 2017 and made it to initial operational capability in 2021. It made its first patrol in 2022, so one could say it was in development for 14 years.

The next carrier in the Ford-class, the John F. Kennedy, was procured in 2013 and will be delivered later in 2025. The Enterprise, the third Ford-class carrier, was first procured in 2018. The Enterprise will be delayed for 18 to 26 months and delivery is not expected until 2029.

USS Gerald R. Ford or Ford-Class

The U.S. Navy Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 4 June 2020, marking the first time a Gerald R. Ford-class and a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier operated together underway. Gerald R. Ford is underway conducting integrated air wing operations, and the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group remained at sea in the Atlantic as a certified carrier strike group force ready for tasking in order to protect the crew from the risks posed by COVID-19, following their successful deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation.

Threats Have Multiplied

The next problem is that the Ford-class is a threat magnet. By that, carriers face a modern panoply of threats that could sink them. First are the carrier-killing anti-ship missiles, including hypersonic weapons. China has these in spades. Then there are the modern ultra-quiet diesel-electric submarines that could sneak inside a carrier strike group and sink a flat-top. Next would be kamikaze drones that could fly into a carrier, causing great damage or a fatal hit. Then there are unmanned underwater vehicles that could send torpedoes to attack a carrier. Not to mention, an attack by conventional fighters and bombers launching air-to-surface missiles. Another option for the enemy would be to use a cyber attack to cripple the ship’s communications system and other computer networks.

Keeping It Re-Supplied

An additional problem is adequately supplying and replenishing an aircraft carrier as big as the Ford-class. The nuclear-powered propulsion system has unlimited range, but the vessel must be re-supplied with food and water. Long deployments are difficult for the crew. The length of a mission is usually positively correlated to the time it takes for a carrier to be in maintenance.

Problems with Technology

The Ford-class has introduced complex new technologies that have led to difficulties and delays. The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS is one of the issues. EMALS has not been as reliable as desired. There have also been problems with the Gerald R. Ford’s deflectors and Advanced Arresting Gear.

“We had 23 new technologies on that ship, which quite frankly increased the risk … of delivery on time and cost right from the get-go. We really shouldn’t introduce more than maybe one or two new technologies on any complex platform like that in order to make sure that we keep risk at a manageable level,” Chief of Naval Operations Mike Gilday said in 2011.

The Gerald R. Ford and its sister ships will eventually be up to par and meet the Navy’s expectations, but there have been myriad difficulties. The Ford-class is uber-expensive, almost tripling what it costs to build a Nimitz-class carrier. The Ford-class could be cheaper to maintain when compared to the Nimitz-class, but repairs will still be costly.

Construction delays have frustrated Congress. The 21st-century threat environment has evolved rapidly, and aircraft carriers could be badly damaged or sunk by enemies with new systems and weapons. Time will tell if the United States has made the correct decision about the Ford-class.

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.