Video – US Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford anchors in the Solent – 14th November 2022 at 5:07pm

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) steams the Atlantic Ocean

The US Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier has anchored in the Solent off the Hampshire coast.

USS Gerald R Ford, on her maiden deployment, left Norfolk, Virginia, in October to lead a carrier strike group in the Atlantic.

Named after America’s 38th president, Gerald R Ford, she is part of the first new US aircraft carrier class designed in more than 40 years, the US Department of Defense (DOD) said.

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USS Gerald R Ford cost around $13bn (around £11.5bn) to build, considerably more than the £3.2bn cost of the Royal Navy Flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The US carrier will work alongside ships and personnel from seven NATO allies – the US, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain – and Finland and Sweden, who are in the process of joining the alliance.

According to the DOD, the Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) will focus training on air defence, anti-subsurface warfare, distributed maritime operations, mine countermeasures, and amphibious operations.

About 9,000 personnel from nine nations, 20 ships and 60 aircraft will reportedly be involved.