US Navy's aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford successfully completes new operational step.

According to information published by the U.S. DoD on August 4, 2022, sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) successfully completed the Combat Systems Operational Readiness Exercise (CSORE) marking a crucial turning point in the ship’s deployment readiness.
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The US Navy's aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (Picture source: U.S. DoD)

CSORE is an exercise meant to check the functionality of combat systems and test the crew’s ability to handle threats to the ship.  Fire Controlman 2nd Class Tyler Westbrook, from Detroit, the lead petty officer for the combat systems CS-7 division, reported that the crew used the Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) and MK-38 25 millimeter guns to engage simulated drone combatants on the surface and in the air.

Before the event could begin, the crew worked tirelessly to ready the equipment. Numerous hours were spent performing pre-fire checks on the mounts. After the mounting and equipment checks, the crew then had to load the CIWS weapons. According to Westbrook, it was no small feat.

The work was not done in vain, as the crew and equipment passed the tests. The crew walked away glowing with pride. Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Hector Mejia, from Los Angeles, the lead petty officer of weapons G-2 division, assisted in handling the MK-38 guns, and had positive words about the event.

About the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is the lead ship of her class of United States Navy aircraft carriers. She was delivered to the Navy on 31 May 2017 and formally commissioned by President Donald Trump on 22 July 2017.

The Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) class carrier design is the successor to the Nimitz-class carrier design. The Ford-class design uses the basic Nimitz-class hull form but incorporates several improvements, including features permitting the ship to generate more aircraft sorties per day, more electrical power for supporting ship systems, and features permitting the ship to be operated by several hundred fewer sailors than a Nimitz-class ship.

The Gerald R. Ford class has a length of 333 m, a width of 77 m, and a displacement of 100,000 tons and is equipped with AN/SPY-3 and AN/SPY-4 active electronically scanned array multi-function radar.

The armament of the USS Gerald R. Ford-class consists of two RIM-162 ESSM launchers, two RIM-116 RAM, three Phalanx CIWS, and four M2 .50 Cal. (12.7 mm) machine guns.