dThe USS Gerald R. Ford is the world’s most expensive warship – and apparently worth the money: During a test, the US Navy exposed the aircraft carrier to a depth charge that detonated the equivalent of a magnitude 3.9 earthquake.
Friday’s video footage showed the exercise in the Atlantic, some 170 kilometers off the coast of Florida. With an explosion, a pressure wave spreads out in the shape of a ring. A giant water fountain follows. USS Gerald R. Ford survived the attempt.
According to an official announcement, the US Navy regularly conducts so-called “First Full Ship Shock Trials” (FSSTs) on new ships to check safety for combat missions. However, the explosion aboard the USS Gerald R Ford is the first test of its kind on an aircraft carrier since 1987.
USS Gerald R. Ford establishes a new class of aircraft carriers and, at $13 billion, is the world’s most expensive warship. The ship was commissioned in 2008 and put into active service in 2017. The aircraft carrier is 333 meters long, has a displacement of 90,000 tons, has room for 4,500 people and more than 75 aircraft. The ship is named after former US President Gerald R. Ford.
