New Delhi: The United States (US) dispatched USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) to the Eastern Mediterranean as it came out in support of Israel after Hamas launched its deadliest terror attacks in decades.
While its homeport is Norfolk in Virginia, USS Gerald R. Ford was already deployed in the Mediterranean Sea from June in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said that Washington will be providing Israel with additional equipment and resources, including munitions.
“We have also taken steps to augment US Air Force F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the region. The US maintains ready forces globally to further reinforce this deterrence posture if required,” Austin said.
“Strengthening our joint force posture, in addition to the materiel support that we will rapidly provide to Israel, underscores the United States’ ironclad support for the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli people. My team and I will continue to be in close contact with our Israeli counterparts to ensure they have what they need to protect their citizens and defend themselves against these heinous terrorist attacks,” he added.
As per reports, Israel says more than 700 people were killed and 100 kidnapped by Hamas. In Gaza, more than 400 people were killed in retaliatory Israeli air strikes, according to Palestinian officials.
How concept of CSG evolved
In the US Navy, a Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is a naval formation led by an aircraft carrier — the USS Gerald R. Ford, in this case — with several surface and subsurface ships. Such naval formations provide a military presence wherever they are deployed and are mandated to carry out operations in support of national interests.
“With the end of open hostilities and the transition into the Cold War period, the battle capabilities of multi-carrier formations became less important to the U.S. in comparison to global deterrence and the need to protect Transatlantic supply routes from Soviet submarines lest open conflict break out between the superpowers,” according to Washington-based think tank Institute for China-America Studies (ICAS).
“In this context, the contemporary CSG was born. These formations typically consist of one nuclear-powered ‘supercarrier’, two guided-missile cruisers, two anti-aircraft destroyers, one frigate, two submarines, and a supply ship,” it added.
The US has a fleet of 11 large-deck, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, which is far more than any other country in the world. India operates two aircraft carriers, INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant.
Led by aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the above mentioned strike group comprises Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Normandy and the Arleigh-Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt.
USS Gerald R. Ford: Class of its own
The keel of this aircraft carrier was laid in November 2009 while the christening took place four years later in November 2013. Officially commissioned on 22 July, 2017, the USS Gerald R. Ford is the US Navy’s newest and reportedly the most advanced aircraft carrier.
It can carry approximately 5,000 sailors and a deck of warplanes. It is the lead ship in the Ford-class of the aircraft carrier, the first new class in more than 40 years, and will begin the phased replacement of Nimitz-class carriers.
“Although it appears similar to a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, there are many features that make Ford unique. First-in-class technology includes a new nuclear plant, the ability to generate nearly three times the amount of electrical power, innovative advanced arresting gear and the electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS),” the official website of USS Gerald R. Ford says.
EMALS replaces the steam catapult system traditionally used to launch aircraft and will expand the aircraft launch envelope, paving the way to operate manned/unmanned aircraft as well as providing the opportunity for other technological advancements in the future, the website adds.
The 1,106 ft long and 134 ft tall aircraft carrier boasts of armament such as evolved sea sparrow missile (ESSM), rolling airframe missile (RAM), close-in weapon system (CIWS).
Powered by two nuclear reactors with four shafts, the aircraft carrier can reach a top speed in excess of 30 knots. The full load displacement of 100,000 tons makes USS Gerald R. Ford the world’s largest aircraft carrier.
“American steel and American hands have constructed a 100,000-ton message to the world: American might is second to none, and we’re getting bigger, and better, and stronger every day of my administration. That I can tell you,” then US President Donald Trump had said at the aircraft carrier’s commissioning ceremony in 2017.
“Wherever this vessel cuts through the horizon, our allies will rest easy and our enemies will shake with fear because everyone will know that America is coming and America is coming strong,” he had asserted.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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