Former US President Donald Trump often complained about “ugly” ships, and the US Navy’s new aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford also often became the target of Mr. Trump’s criticism, according to former US officials.
An EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft prepares to land on the flight deck of the USS Gerald R Ford. Photo: US NAVY/Ruben Reed
According to Business Insider , the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier, worth $13 billion, is the largest aircraft carrier in the world . USS Gerald R Ford possesses a collection of new technologies, such as advanced weapons transport ladders, modern momentum arresters and electromagnetic aircraft launching systems along with many other improvements compared to carriers. flew the old Nimitz class.
USS Gerald R Ford is 333 m long, 77 m high and has a displacement of 100,000 tons.
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford transits the Atlantic Ocean on March 26, 2022. Photo: US NAVY/Jackson Adkins
Former President Trump often complained both publicly and privately about the viability of these new systems. Mr. Trump said that the weapons transport ladder would stop working if a drop of water accidentally hit it or that the new catapult was too complicated compared to the old catapult and required Einstein-level intelligence to operate. .
Aircraft from Carrier Strike Group 8 (CSG-8) on the flight deck of the USS Gerald R Ford as the ship transits the Atlantic Ocean on April 13. Photo: US NAVY/ Riley McDowell
In his new book, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times , the former Secretary of State US room Mark Esper wrote that Mr. Trump thought the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford would never operate.
But most of all, Mr. Esper wrote, Mr. Trump kept obsessing over the shape of the ship even though it could be viewed from many different angles in US navy photos.
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford during an anti-shipping test on the Florida coast in August 2021. Photo: US NAVY/ JACKSON ADKI
Mr. Esper also recounted his visit to Norfolk (Virginia) with Mr. Trump at the end of his presidency. At that time, Mr. Trump expressed his admiration for the destroyers and other warships at the dock with the comment ” how beautiful they look ” but did not stop complaining about the USS Gerald R Ford.
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford departs Naval Station Norfolk for the Newport News shipyard. Photo: US NAVY/William Spears
The 45th President of the United States paid special attention to the location of the flight operations command center on the USS Gerald R Ford.
“The tower looked really bad, really stupid. Imagine the time and expense it took to do that,” Trump said, according to Esper in the book. Esper added that Trump had suggested moving the command center closer to the middle of the ship.
The USS Gerald R Ford performs a high-speed maneuver in the Atlantic Ocean. Photo: US NAVY/Connor Loessin
Navy officials tried to explain that the command center was there to facilitate combat operations, especially flight operations. But Mr. Trump insisted that “it doesn’t look right,” adding that he has “an eye for aesthetics.”
The design of the USS Gerald R Ford is the result of years of effort. Despite setbacks during development , the USS Gerald R Ford has undergone the necessary shock and maintenance testing.
USS Gerald R Ford is expected to be ready for naval operations this year. Three other Ford-class aircraft carriers, John F. Kennedy, Enterprise and Doris Miller, are being planned.
