USS Ford Crew Destroys Drones & Aircraft During War Prep

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By Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

(Washington D.C.) The Navy’s flagship USS Ford aircraft carrier attacked and destroyed enemy rocket-propelled drones, aircraft and surface threats with interceptor missiles, sensors and other ship defenses in a series of warfare preparation exercises designed to move the ship closer to major maritime warfare. 

In the Atlantic Ocean, the Ford recently completed what’s called Combat Systems Ship’s Qualification Trials, a combat preparation phase involving simulated and actual live threats to assess the extent to which a large Ford-class carrier could defend itself in a great power ocean war scenario.  

“(the) Ford faced off against rocket-propelled drones capable of speeds in excess of 600 miles per hour; towed drone units that simulate rockets; and remote-controlled, high-speed maneuvering surface targets,” a Navy report said. 

Demonstrating this kind of defensive capability is both timely and extremely significant from a tactical perspective given ongoing discussions about the potential “vulnerability” of aircraft carriers in an increasingly high-tech, major power threat environment. However, much of the discussion, which is largely based upon the existence of extremely long-range Chinese “carrier killer” anti ship missiles, regularly seems to overlook the growing technological sophistication of layered ship defense systems. 

Newer kinds of integrated sensor networking, longer-range ship-based radar and things like AI-enabled targeting technology or even emerging laser weapons, are fast changing the equation when it comes to protecting carriers and other larger surface ships at sea. 

The recent CSSQT, as its called, seems specifically directed toward preparing the Ford for an entirely new sphere of enemy attacks using recently upgraded systems such as the Rolling Airframe Missile, Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles and the “Mk-15 Phalanx Close-In Weapon System to fire armor-piercing tungsten bullets,” according to the Navy report.