US Navy carrier strike group with nuclear-powered aircraft carrier head to Europe

A U.S. Navy carrier strike group led by the new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford is on its way to Europe.

The group is expected to arrive in the British naval base at Portsmouth in southern England in the middle of November, though the exact time and location have not yet been confirmed.

US Navy carrier strike group will arrive to UK

The ship is home to 90 aircraft and helicopters, including the most recent F-35C fighters.

The USS Gerald Ford will visit Great Britain along with several destroyers, a missile cruiser, and a nuclear attack submarine.

According to reports, the following units took part in the Gerald Ford carrier strike group’s initial deployment:

• USS Normandy (CG 60), a missile cruiser;
• the destroyer USS Ramage (DDG 61);
• USS McFaul (DDG 74) destroyer;
• USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) destroyer;
• oiler USNS Joshua Humpreys (T-AO 188);
• Robert E. Peary (USNS) (T-AKE 5);
• Hamilton, USCGC (WMSL 753).

New Generation Aircraft Carrier

The USS Gerald R. Ford was commissioned by President Donald Trump on July 22, 2017. The commissioning ceremony officially welcomes the ship into the Navy. It was the day that the Ford joined the other ships in the Navy.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers will be gradually replaced starting with the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the lead ship of the Ford-class aircraft carriers, the first new class in almost 40 years.

The two nuclear reactors created for the aircraft carrier are among the features and can generate 25% more power than the power plant on aircraft carriers of an earlier generation. The ship’s power reserve enables it to launch aircraft and quickly reload catapults (can take on board up to 90 planes and helicopters).

Group is prepared to fight Russian forces if needed

The command of the large American aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77), which is now in the Mediterranean, already declared that the group is prepared to fight Russian forces if necessary.

These groups’ key task is to deter threats and prevent an escalation.