US media: "Ford" aircraft carrier exposes many technical and logistical problems

The largest US aircraft carrier, the "Ford", was forced to leave the Middle East war zone due to a fire in the onboard laundry room and arrived at a port in Crete, Greece on the 23rd for repairs. Bloomberg reported on the 24th that this incident exposed many technical and support issues that have long existed with this type of aircraft carrier. The "Ford" was commissioned in 2017 and is the first ship of the latest generation "Ford" class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers of the US Navy. Bloomberg reported that the latest evaluation report from the US Department of Defense testing agency showed that this type of aircraft carrier still has many uncertainties in terms of "combat effectiveness" and "system reliability". Key aspects such as aircraft catapult and recovery systems, radar systems, anti-strike capabilities, and lift equipment for transferring weapons and ammunition to the flight deck all lack sufficient real-world test data. The report pointed out that due to the lack of complete real-world testing, there is not enough data to determine the combat effectiveness of the "Ford" class aircraft carriers. This means that it is currently unclear what the actual capabilities of the "Ford" in detecting, tracking, or intercepting enemy aircraft, anti-ship missiles, or small attack aircraft are. Additionally, it is also uncertain how the various systems of this aircraft carrier will perform under the high-intensity pressure of continuous takeoffs and landings during wartime. Furthermore, the report also pointed out that the "Ford" has a shortage of sufficient berths to accommodate all crew members onboard, and described this shortage as "affecting the quality of life onboard the ship".