US Navy's $13 bn carrier embarks on first deployment
The US Navy's newest aircraft carrier embarked on its maiden deployment, a milestone for a ship that has suffered problems with some of the advanced technologies it carries.
The USS Gerald R. Ford -- which cost more than $13 billion -- will work with countries including Canada, France and Germany during a deployment that will include training on air defence, anti-submarine warfare and amphibious operations.
A live video on a US Navy Facebook page showed tugboats moving the grey-painted ship away from the pier at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.
The ship's deployment will "demonstrate its unmatched, multi-domain, full-spectrum lethality in the Atlantic," Admiral Daryl Caudle said in a statement ahead of the ship's departure.
The deployment will involve 9,000 people, 20 ships and 60 aircraft from nine different countries, the US Navy said, without providing a breakdown by nation.
Commissioned in 2017, the carrier is massive -- more than 335 meters long, and displacing 101,000 tonnes when fully loaded. But it can still sail at a speed of more than 54 kilometers per hour.
The ship -- named for the 38th US president -- requires hundreds fewer crew members to operate than previous carriers and is designed to be able to carry futuristic energy weapons that are still under development.
