US Navy aircraft carrier Gerald R Ford has successfully withstood an underwater detonation test test of 20 tons of explosives, which observers say could effectively reduce the threat posed by China’s carrier killer missiles. The US Navy said in a press release on Monday that the third and final full ship shock test of America’s latest and most advanced nuclear carrier was completed off the coast of Florida on Sunday, following previous such tests on June 18 and July 16. To.
Service officials described a shock test test where the Navy detonated 40,000 pounds of ordnance in water near the hull to test both the ship and its systems, with no major injuries, no fire, and no flooding, The US Naval Institute’s news portal USNI News reported. We had zero catastrophic failures onboard, zero situations where we had floods or anything, and zero fires. This is all quite important, Ford’s commanding officer, Captain Paul Lanzilotta, told reporters on Monday.
This is perhaps the most eagerly watched test by China as since 2015 the Chinese military has been touting its DF-21D and DF-26 missiles as carrier killers that can hit aircraft carriers moving from a distance of 5,000 km. In tests conducted off the Florida coast in the Atlantic Ocean, 40,000lbs (20 tons) of explosives equivalent to a 3.9-magnitude earthquake were detonated underwater, each time getting closer to the carrier. Data on the impact on the vessel was collected.
Brian Metcalf, manager of the Navy’s Future Aircraft Carrier Program Office, said: “The tests showed and proved to the crew, quite dramatically, that the ship would be able to withstand formidable aftershocks and continue to operate in extreme conditions. ” In addition to data collection, another reason for announcing it was to send a message to China and Russia that US aircraft carriers have super resilience and are not concerned about Chinese or Russian conventional anti-ship weapons, commentator and former Chinese Military instructor Song Zhongping said.
Song told the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post that the 40,000-pound explosive detonation was far larger than any single weapon of a conventional missile or torpedo. He said the test proved that the Ford-class aircraft carrier could withstand some water mines or near-missile attacks, but did not show its resistance against direct hits.
Ballistic missiles or hypersonic missiles can also carry electromagnetic pulse weapons that detonate at high altitudes and damage the aircraft carrier, or even take it out of combat altogether, he said. The shock trial is designed to test the ship’s shock durability and ability to sustain operations in a simulated combat environment.
The Post report said minor damage assessments and repairs to the USS Gerald R Ford will be carried out during planned maintenance ahead of scheduled deployment next year. Full ship shock tests were last conducted in 2016 on two coastal combat ships. The last aircraft carrier to undergo such testing was the USS Theodore Roosevelt in 1987.
According to military officials, the DF-26 can deliver precise nuclear or conventional strikes against ground and naval targets. As the Cold War with China has deepened in recent years, particularly with the US entry into the disputed South China Sea, effectively challenging China’s claims to sovereignty, the US Navy is asserting that to maintain its supremacy in the face of competition from the Chinese Navy’s shipbuilding spree. .
A US government document in June outlined plans to maintain a fleet of 321 and 372 manned ships. As of 2020, the Chinese Navy had 360 ships and the US Navy 297. However, the US had much larger ships, with two aircraft carriers from China, and 92 cruisers and destroyers against the PLA’s 33, as well as being more powerful in armament. As per Post report.
The shock trial is expected to provide highly valuable data for the mass production of the Ford-class aircraft carrier, America’s first major aircraft carrier investment since the 1960s. The report said China has developed the aircraft carrier killer DF-21D and DF-26 anti-ship ballistic missiles, which were reportedly going thousands of kilometers in the South China Sea in a test last August.
Russia is also testing a hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile, Zircon, which can reach a maximum speed of Mach 9. It hit a ground target in a test last month.
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