CVN 78 Facts
Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is the Navy's first aircraft carrier to be completely designed using a 3-dimensional product model.
The overall design of the ship provides the Navy a more capable ship with reduced weight to allow for future technology insertion, increased sortie generation capability, 2.5 times more electrical power and reduced cost.
The Gerald R. Ford class-aircraft carriers have been redesigned from the Nimitz class. They have the same hull lines and the same number of decks as a Nimitz-class carrier, but the footprint of the general arrangement has been totally rearranged to accommodate a new technology and meet all of the Navy's operational requirements.
Galleys - there are five galleys on Nimitz-class carriers and two on CVN 78. The Strike Group Commander and the Ship's Commanding Officer have separate galleys on both ships.
Weapons Elevators - The weapons elevators have been redesigned to reduce maintenance and repair costs and provide a design which improves the carrier's mission capability. Nimitz class weapons elevators are wire rope hoist type elevators driven by electric motors with hydraulically driven doors. CVN 78 is an electromagnetic hoist system with no wire ropes and the doors are driven by electric actuators. Hydraulics have been eliminated and wire ropes have been eliminated.
Manning - The CVN 78 will cost less to operate over its 50-year life because it will require less people to operate and maintain the ship. The ship manpower reduction goal is between 500-1200 billets less than a Nimitz-class ship. The overall manpower savings to the Navy is expected to be approximately $5.0B over its 50-year life.
Flexible Infrastructure - The CVN 78 design incorporates a "flexible infrastructure" which is a major distinction between CVN 78 and the Nimitz-class carriers. Select ship spaces will be outfitted with track on the deck, bulkheads and in the overheads for items such as speakers, lights, electrical receptacles and monitors, so that no matter where the Navy in the future wants to locate consoles and cabinets, the space will accommodate it. Ventilation and wire ways will be run underneath a false deck so that where ever you need ventilation you can reconfigure the space to accommodate changing technology. These spaces will save the Navy significant costs over the life of a ship as new missions require space reconfiguration.