US Navy Ford Class nuclear carriers

FORBIN said:

Ford use what ESSM launcher ?

He seems Carl Vinson is actually the only CVN use MK 57, with Sea Sparrow ?

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If anyone have more details please.

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RIM-162 ESSM Mk 29 launcher

RIM-116 RAM Mk 144 launcher

Phalanx CIWS
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Jeff Head said:

My understanding is that the Ford class will initially be armed with the following self defense systems, integrated into the Ship Self Defense System (SSDS).

2 x RIM-162 ESSM launchers (Mk 29 launcher)
2 x RIM-116 RAM launchers (Mk 144 launcher)
2 x PHALANX 20mm Close In Weapon Systems (CIWS)

Most pictures show the Eight Cell launcher for the ESSM, though a few older pictures may show VLS. I believe it will be the Eight Cell launchers.

Phalanx CIWS
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kwaigonegin said:

only two r2d2? If everything goes well (hopefully) she will still be sailing the high seas when everyone of us here today have long since taken the dirt nap.

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kwaigonegin said:

only two r2d2? I was thinking three. Anyway good to see her finally off her chains!

Also not to sound too depressing but if everything goes well (hopefully) she will still be sailing the high seas when everyone of us here today have long since taken the dirt nap.

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Equation said:

Don't forget the other r2d2 aboard the CVN battle group of destroyers and other escorts.

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Jeff Head said:

The "R2D2," is in reference to the Phalanx 20mm CIWS. As such, the weapons on the CIWS weapons on the other ships would be of little use to the carrier.

However with two RAMS and two ESSM launchers, along with the two Phalanx, she will be well armed for hard kill self defense.

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Equation said:

Is it "two" on each side of the starboard and port or is it two overall?

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Defense News said:

It’s not every decade that a new aircraft carrier design comes along. But now, for the first time since the early 1970s, the first of a new class of nuclear-powered behemoths is being revealed to the public along the shores of the James River in Virginia.

The Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is rising in a giant graving dock at the northwest end of the sprawling shipyard of Newport News Shipbuilding. Officially under construction since November 2009, the work to build the 1,092-fo0t-long ship has actually been going on for more than a decade. Hiding under scaffolding, covered in anti-rust primer, the Ford has just received a new coat of paint, part of the preparations for her public debut on Nov. 9, when ship’s sponsor Susan Ford Bales, daughter of the 38th U.S. president, will formally christen the ship.

Water was let into the dock to float the Ford for the first time on Oct. 11. She’s not yet officially launched — that won’t technically take place until after the christening ceremony when the ship is moved out of the dock to a fitting-out berth in the shipyard. The Ford isn’t anywhere near complete yet, either — the ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in early 2016, and it will be some time after that before the ship is declared operational and ready to deploy.

Defense News was given a look at the ship on Oct. 22. While the outside of the hull is freshly painted, inside the Ford is swarming with a couple thousand shipbuilders. Staging and scaffolding abound in the hangar deck and around the ship’s island superstructure, and the flight deck is covered with temporary structures.

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