Despite extended operational deployments, carrier Ford faces additional testing

Shown here launching aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean, USS Gerald R Ford is on extended deployment. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

As aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford (CVN 78) operates on an extended deployment, rivalling Vietnam-era duty timeframes and often engaging in naval combat, the Pentagon is saying the ship still needs to complete official testing events to gauge Ford-class carrier performance and potential shortfalls.

“These events will be critical to evaluating the class' operational effectiveness, suitability, and survivability,” the Pentagon's Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) said in its FY 2025 Annual Report , accessed by Janes on 17 March.

The report comes amid an extended Ford deployment that has seen it cross the Atlantic Ocean three times and engage in combat in support of US operations in the Red Sea and the current attacks on Iran.

“After departing on deployment [on] 24 June 2025, the [Ford] carrier strike group conducted multidomain strike group operations in the Atlantic Ocean before transiting east into the US 6th Fleet area of operations, sailing above the Arctic Circle and throughout the Mediterranean Sea with multiple allies and partners, participating in NATO's Neptune Strike 25-2 and 25-3 enhanced vigilance activities, and conducting port calls in Croatia, France, Germany, Norway, and Spain,” Ford officials noted in a 16 November release.

The force then entered the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility in November, ship officials noted, to support operations there against drug traffickers and other threats in the Caribbean and South Atlantic.

For more about SOUTHCOM carrier operations, please see:

Update: Carrier strike group deployment to Caribbean significantly increases US firepower in region