b'U . S .M i l i t a r yAmericasmostfront-linefightingforce,itsfleetof eleven aircraft carrier strike groups, serve primarily as a deterrent to any military on earth that might pose a threat to the United States. Their deployments are never random, but are intended to convey the security pri-orities of our country and its closest allies, including confronting potential threats before they materialize. We owe the development of most of our most advanced technologiestothemilitarytheInternet,afterall, was invented at the Department of Defense as a secret communicationsnetwork,in1968andthecarrier fleet has always been outfitted with what is newest and most advanced. During WWII, it was radarin fact, sailors training and working at the top secret station at NASCC could face court martial for using the word ra-dar off-base. Anyone with any experience on the wa-ter will be wholly impressed by watching footage of sea trials of the USS Ronald Reagan or the USS Gerald R. Ford, which shows these warships making high-speed maneuvers more akin to a speedboat than a 100,000-ton floating city of more than 1,000 feet in length.While the top speed of the Navys aircraft carriers is officially classified, military experts estimate it to beTop: The first of the Navys new generation of aircraft carriers, the USS Gerald R. Ford; Above Left & Right: WWII and Modern Era main battle over 40 knots, or almost 50 mph, making these thestation rebuilds aboard the USS Midway Museum in San Diego; Below: U.S. Marine Corps F-35C stealth fighter jet carrier version, the most fastest mega vessels on earth. The Ford is the first of the Navys new class of carriers, which will replace theadvanced fighter jet ever built, and new Navy workhorse; Bottom: Inside the F-35C, jump-jet capable and employing laser missile jammers.Nimitz class, one-for-one, over the next decades. With a build cost of $12.3 billion, the research and develop-ment budget was another $5 billion. Among its many advancesistheintroductionoftheElectromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), replacing the steam catapults that have been used since the dawn of the jet age, more than 70 years ago. The new launch system provides smoother acceleration, inducing less stress on the aircraft, is faster to reset than steam catapults, and requires less manpower. The electromagnetic catapults require more power per launch than the ship gener-ateseven with two of the worlds most advanced nu-clear reactorsbut the system requires only 45 seconds to recharge its massive batteries, between each launch.The most advanced 3-D radar system to date was de-veloped for the Ford class carriers, along with the most accurate and lethal Ship Self-Defense System, employ-ing Sea Sparrow sea-to-air missiles. The Navy has con-firmed that the Gerald R. Ford can also be equipped with high-powered laser beam weapons, capable of de-stroying drones, small aircraft, missiles and small boats.The last U.S. aircraft carrier lost to enemy fire occurred at the desperate end of the War in the Pacific for the Japanese, who launched a kamikaze attack that sank the USS Bismarck Sea in February 1945, at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Over the course of the war, the U.S. lost a dozen carriers to enemy fire, with 2,528 killed, the most dead-ly of which was the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay, sunk in November 1943 by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine, killing 702 brave Americans. In the attack 108THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'