US aircraft carrier sent toward Israel is world’s largest warship. What can it do?

In response to Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, the United States deployed an aircraft carrier to the region as a form of deterrence.

“I have directed the movement of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in an Oct. 8 statement.

The announcement followed “detailed discussions with President Biden,” Austin said, adding that “the U.S. maintains ready forces globally to further reinforce this deterrence posture if required.”

As the world’s largest warship, the USS Gerald R. Ford is in a league of its own when it comes to offensive capabilities, according to the U.S. Navy.

’Innovative warfighting platform’

The Gerald R. Ford, named after the 38th president — who made a career in the Navy — is an “innovative warfighting platform,” the ship’s commanding officer stated in 2019.

Commissioned in 2017, the vessel is the first new aircraft carrier to be designed by the U.S. in four decades, according to the Navy. Measuring 1,100 feet from bow to stern, the floating fortress is longer than three football fields combined. It’s powered by two state-of-the-art nuclear reactors, allowing it to steam ahead at 34.5 miles per hour.

“As the first-in-class ship for the next generation of aircraft carriers, Gerald R. Ford introduces 23 technologies to deliver greater lethality, survivability and joint interoperability while reducing operating and maintenance costs,” the Gerald R. Ford Public Affairs Office told McClatchy News.

Unlike older aircraft carriers, which are equipped with steam-powered catapults for launching aircraft, the Ford has a new electromagnetic launch system, which allows for more control and automation, the office said.

Additionally, the vessel contains an advanced weapons elevator (AWE), which can move “24,000 pounds per load at speeds greater than Nimitz-class carriers,” the vessels preceding the Gerald R. Ford, the office said.

The ship carries a range of weapons designed to bolster it against attacks while launching heavily armed aircraft hundreds of miles in any direction.

Among the weapons carried onboard is the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, a medium-range projectile.

“The missile provides reliable ship self-defense capability against agile, high-speed, low-altitude anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), low velocity air threats (LVATs), such as helicopters, and high-speed, maneuverable surface threats,” according to the Navy.

The speed and range of the 12-foot, 622-pound projectiles are classified.

The Gerald R. Ford is also equipped with a lighter weight missile, the Rolling Airframe Missile, a supersonic weapon intended to defend against cruise missiles and other threats.

The ship can carry up to 90 aircraft, according to Naval Technology, including F-35 fighter jets, which have a range of around 1,000 miles and can carry up to 18,000 pounds of weapons, according to Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer.

While deployed, the ship is crewed by 6,000 sailors, making its population larger than many American towns, according to Naval Station Norfolk.

As “the biggest, baddest warship,” as the Navy calls it, the Gerald R. Ford’s presence alone, in addition to the fleet of warships that travel with it, is designed to make potential enemy combatants think twice before acting.

Hamas’ attack, Israel’s retaliation

The ship’s deployment follows an unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, an Islamic militant organization that controls Gaza, a Palestinian territory. The offensive is the latest in a string of bloody conflicts between Israel and Gaza that have left more than 4,000 Palestinians dead and 106 Israelis dead since 2008, according to The Associated Press.

Over 700 people died during the Oct. 7 air, land and sea invasion, including more than 250 concertgoers, making it “one of the country’s worst civilian massacres,” the outlet reported. Israeli hostages were taken as well.

Hamas cited increased Israeli settlements on land claimed by Palestinians as one of the reasons for their attack, among others, according to the AP.

“Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful under international law due to its permanence and the Israeli government’s de facto annexation policies,” a 2022 U.N. report concluded.

In response to the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, vowed to “destroy Hamas’ capabilities.”

“What happened today is unprecedented in Israel – and I will see to it that it does not happen again,” Netanyahu, head of the Likud party, a right-wing party. “We will be victorious in this war despite an unbearable price.”

“I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere,” Netanyahu added.

Soon after, Israeli forces began bombarding Gaza, leaving more than 400 dead, according to the AP.

Gaza, a narrow strip of land about half the size of New York City, is populated by 2.1 million people. Its residents have lived under an Israeli blockade since 2007, when Hamas took control of the territory, and have nowhere to go, according to the United Nations.

Sixty-three percent of the people who live there, many of whom are refugees and half of whom are children, are food insecure, and 95% don’t have access to clean water, according to the U.N.

Gaza has been called an “open-air prison,” by Human Rights Watch and “hell on earth” by the U.N. secretary-general.

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