The biggest warship in the world now on deployment

The first of a new generation of US aircraft super carriers costing more than $13 billion has set off for its inaugural deployment four years later than originally scheduled. USS Gerald R Ford, nuclear-powered and 112,000 tons, is 14ft longer than the current Nimitz-class carriers, making it the largest warship in the world. It has been designed with more than 20 new technologies including an electro-magnetic rather than steam-generated system for catapulting fighter jets off the flight deck. The carrier which suffered multiple technical mishaps since construction began in 2005 left the Norfolk naval station in Virginia to cross the Atlantic for exercises with allied navies including from France, Germany, Sweden and Spain. The exercises will take place in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean where Russian warships have been increasingly operating in recent months. The Gerald R Ford was accompanied by a strike group consisting of one cruiser, three guided-missile destroyers and supply ships. It's the first time in 40 years that the US Navy has deployed a newly-designed carrier. The Ford-class carriers will replace the Nimitz-class ships which have been in operation since the 1970s. The inaugural deployment of the next-generation super carrier comes at a time when China is making rapid progress in designing and constructing carriers to rival America's most powerful naval war-fighting platform. China still has only three carriers against America's 11. But the next class is expected to be nuclear-powered for the first time and it will also be fitted with electromagnetic catapults, copying the US Navy's design. The Gerald R Ford was formally commissioned in 2017 by President Trump who caused a stir in the navy when he denounced the new-style catapult system which was then suffering malfunctions and urged the return to steam. However, the Ford-class carriers use electromagnetic technology not just for the catapults but also for the elevators that bring weapons up from the lower decks to the aircraft on the flight deck. The elevator doors, like the catapults, suffered technical problems and played a key part in the construction delays. Construction of the next two Ford-class carriers, USS John F Kennedy and USS Enterprise, are well underway.