The President of the United States Donald trump took part in the commissioning of the new aircraft carrier “Gerald Ford”, reports Associated Press.
The ceremony was held in Norfolk, Virginia. Speaking on Board the vessel, trump criticized the previous administration, which made the lack of investment in new military technology. In this regard, trump has called on Congress to “do its job” and to increase funding for the military.
The President called the carrier “a 100,000-ton message to the world”, indicating American military power. “Wherever the ship cuts through the horizon, our allies will be relaxed, and our enemies will tremble with fear because everyone will know what America is, and America is strong,” he said.
The new generation of aircraft carrier “Gerald Ford” was officially transferred to the naval forces of the United States in early June. This is the first nuclear aircraft carrier of the new type entered service the US Navy since 1975, when the Navy took the head of the nuclear ship “Nimitz”.
The construction of nuclear aircraft carrier “Gerald Ford”, the first of a series of ships of new generation, started in 2009, the launching took place in 2013. the cost amounted to 12.9 billion dollars. The ship is named in honor of the 38th President of the United States.
Initially, the carrier was planned to be transferred to the Navy in 2014, but the deadline was not met. Testing began only in April 2017.
The design life of the new ship — 50 years. It is expected that the carrier will reach full combat readiness by 2020.