All language subtitles for Impossible Engineering s05e07 US Navys Aircraft Carrier.eng

Today on
"Impossible engineering,"

the world's largest warship.

The aircraft carrier
is a moving city

with all of the capabilities
of any airfield,

and it can be moved
anywhere in the world.

4-1/2 acres of
cutting-edge military muscle...

The Ford class has
taken a 40-year leap

in the development of
aircraft carrier technologies.

...And the pioneering
historic innovations...

Man, I love the smell
of jet fuel in the morning.

You know what I mean?

Let's go ahead
and launch the second.

And you can see that
those two flight paths

are naturally de-conflicted.

...That made the impossible

possible.

... Captions by vitac...
www.vitac.com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

The United States is renowned
for its naval might.

It has some of the fastest

and most heavily-armed ships
on the planet.

But patrolling the 139 million
square-miles of oceans

requires more.

Its airborne units are vital
to the Navy's success.

And basing an air force at sea

presents a unique
engineering challenge

for people like

chief petty officer
Jeremy Stoecklein

and his colleagues.

Those waters
need to be patrolled,

need to be protected
for American interests.

The forefront of military might

has really become
naval aviation,

and it's very, very important

to transfer that power
anywhere in the world.

The U.S. Navy
requires a new breed of ship

capable of transporting
more planes than ever before.

As we move into
the 21st century,

there becomes a new need...

A new need for technology,

a new way to combat
the forces around the world,

and to help out
with humanitarian efforts

around the world.

The United States Navy
needs something

brand new in technology
to help those aids.

The solution...

...the Ford-class
aircraft carrier.

Ford-class carrier is
the largest warship ever built.

It's about 1,100 feet long,

weights about 100,000 tons,

it's about 24 stories tall.

Its scale is unheard of.

It's 35-knot top speed
makes it pound-for-pound

the fastest carrier ever built,

and it's on the brink
of making history.

The first of the colossal class,
the Gerald R. Ford,

has just been delivered
to the U.S. Navy

and is undergoing
vital sea trials

to find out
what it's capable of.

This ship can carry aircraft
and technologies

that are out today,

as well as that we haven't
even dreamt of yet.

This is the most impressive ship
I've ever served aboard.

In dry dock
in Newport news, Virginia,

Geoff Hummel
and a team of engineers

are building the second

of this 10-strong fleet
of carriers...

The John F. Kennedy.

We've been working on it
for about three years,

and we got about another year
and a half in the dry dock,

and then after that, we'll spend
about two years of testing it

before we deliver it.

Mike Butler
heads up construction

of these trailblazing ships.

Well, an aircraft carrier has
to satisfy two major roles...

One is a humanitarian role,

and one is a defensive
or offensive military role.

This ship does both
and does it very well.

The largest warship ever built,

the Ford-class carrier
is almost as long

as the empire state building
is tall.

35 aircraft are stored
in a giant hangar.

Three super-sized elevators
deliver the planes

to an 1,100-foot-long
flight deck.

Equipped with an electromagnetic
catapult system

capable of launching planes
faster than ever before.

The amount of technology that's
been infused into this ship

is gonna put the Navy
in a position

to fight the wars
of the 21st century.

It's gonna be the most capable
ship out there in the fleet.

But creating the
world's largest mobile air base

poses many challenges.

How do you power
a 110,000 ton vessel

with 4,500 crew members?

What we do is,
live everyday lives.

So, washing laundry,

serving 20,000 meals a day.

So, it's like powering,
essentially, a small city.

How is it possible
to get jets airborne

in just a fraction
of a normal runway?

The greatest challenge is
to be able to get the aircraft

to the speed that it needs
in order to take off.

And how can you
bring them home safely?

Landing on a carrier
requires an external means

of stopping the aircraft.

But the engineers face
an even bigger problem.

The Ford class holds more planes

than any carrier before it.

They must be able
to launch and recover

an astonishing
200 missions a day.

So, how do you achieve that
on a ship?

Engineer Marco Estrada
is facing that challenge.

Typically, an aircraft carrier

of the Ford class will hold
approximately 78, 79 aircraft.

The job of managing
the flight deck

is an organized chaos.

We have launches,
you got recoveries,

you got fueling,

you got weapons
at the same time.

So, it's a very
challenging operation.

To achieve their
unprecedented mission rate,

some aircraft
must be able to land

at the same time
that others are taking off.

It's an impossible problem
that was faced

by the innovators of the past.

U.S. Navy pilot
lieutenant Leslie Garcia

is a fast jet specialist,

well aware of the huge problems

of launching and landing
on an aircraft carrier.

It is not uncommon to have
over 20 aircraft launch

right before 20 aircraft
are recovering

during the same open-deck time.

To simulate the
straight deck's limitations,

lieutenant Garcia is
handing over the flying

to a model plane club.

So, right now, we're
putting down the center line

of the straight deck carrier.

I didn't know I was
gonna get a workout

while I was out here, too.

The historic
straight-deck design

is ready for takeoff,

but how will it cope?

They're gonna go airborne,
execute their mission,

and then look
to come in and land.

As the mission gathers pace,

landing simultaneously
is impossible.

Now we've got
the next cycle of pilots

getting ready to take off
while the first cycle

that we launched
are still airborne

and waiting for the opportunity
to come land.

So, as you can see,

they're, basically,
fouling the whole flight deck.

It's a very inefficient process.

But in the 1950s,

aircraft-carrier design
was turned on its head.

Now a floating museum
in San Diego,

the U.S.S. Midway

was one of the first
American carriers

to be fitted with
a game-changing solution...

The angled deck.

It was the brainchild of British

royal Navy captain
Dennis Cambell

and engineer Lewis Boddington.

They supplemented
the traditional straight deck

with a second runway.

The plane's landing area was now
separated at the ship's waist

while launch catapults
were safely positioned

at the front of the ship.

When this was a straight deck,

you would, basically,
just see one landing area

straight up and down the ship,

with taxiing
and launching aircraft

towards the bow of the ship,

landing aircraft
towards the back.

Really, the game was changed

when we went over
to the angled flight deck.

It became so much
more efficient,

and, more importantly,
so much safer.

The midway's remarkable refit

allowed her planes to take off
and land at the same time.

The landing aircraft
are gonna be offset

so that if they need
to take back off,

if they missed a wire,

they will have the angled deck

that is going to keep them away

from the launching aircraft that
are launching straight ahead.

So, will adding an angled deck

bring some order
to today's mission?

As you can see,
we've got one taking off.

He's gonna come around and
start executing touch-and-goes

while we launch
the other aircraft.

As on the midway,

Cambell and Boddington's
addition

transforms this airstrip
into a well-oiled machine.

He's approaching on his landing.

Let's go ahead
and launch the second.

And you can see that
those two flight paths

are naturally deconflicted
because of the angle

that landing aircraft
is coming in on.

And we're basically getting
two landing strips

for the price of one.

The U.S. Navy's
ultra-modern Ford class

is also equipped
with an angled deck.

But whereas midway launched
just 89 sorties a day,

the Ford class
can complete over 200.

When you look at the flight deck
as a whole,

4-1/2 acres seems large,

but as you add
50 fighter aircraft

and around 100 to 150 personnel
at all times

performing their various tasks,

it gets very, very small
very quickly.

The ballet of us doing our job
they call "controlled chaos,"

and that's really what it is.

400 yards!

The Cambell-
and-Boddington-inspired

angled flight deck
enables the Ford class

to complete 25% more
sorties a day

than the U.S. Navy's
previous carrier class.

The angled
flight deck is a major feat

in engineering in itself.

With that angled flight deck,
we have a living airport

that is receiving aircraft
at the same time

it is launching aircraft,
simultaneously.

With the second
in class, the John F. Kennedy,

under construction,
it's up to engineer Marco

to deliver the Ford class's
next awesome angled deck.

Currently, we are
at the 01 level of the ship.

So, there is gonna be
a couple more levels going up

where the flight deck's
going to be.

So, currently, we're a little
lower than the flight deck.

But once the flight deck
is installed,

we should see the angled deck
in this direction,

the island structure should
be in that direction.

And that, in itself,
is a major innovation.

So, just how did moving
the island in relation

to the rest of the flight deck

change aircraft-carrier
design forever?

The cutting edge
Ford-class aircraft carrier,

a study in naval innovation
and a dramatic improvement

on flight-deck efficiency
and safety.

It differs from its predecessors

in a number of ways.

For example,
the position of the island

is radically different
from all previous designs

of U.S. aircraft carriers.

This is one of the keys
to the class's

extraordinary capacity to launch

and recover aircraft
at the same time.

On Ford class,
the island structure

was moved from this area

to an area closer
to the stern of the ship.

That allows more of the parking
of the aircraft forward

of the island structure,

which allows the Navy operators

to turn around
the aircraft faster.

Fuel, service, weapons loading,

in turn, generates more sorties.

At this point in time,
this aircraft carrier design

is the pinnacle
of flight operations support

for the U.S. Navy.

The relocated island
also has a smaller footprint

than its predecessors,

creating an extra usable
deck space.

Beneath the runways,

aircraft are stored
in a giant hangar,

delivered to the flight deck

by 82-foot-long
electromechanical elevators.

Positioned on the sides
of the ship,

any craft can be maneuvered

without disrupting launch
or recovery.

What you're looking
at is what we call ace 3,

or aircraft elevator number 3,

which is right here
on the port side of the ship.

And the elevator is up
right now, as you can see,

but as you look on these slots,
this is what actually slides

our aircraft elevators down
to the hangar bay,

and how we move
our aircraft in and out

for maintenance and operations

and then move it back up
to the flight deck

and taxi them off.

The Ford class
is undoubtedly taking

aircraft deployment
to a whole new level.

But the engineers face
another almighty problem...

Powering this giant carrier,

and it is giant.

The aircraft carrier
is a moving base.

It is a moving city.

So, we have a mobile city,
a mobile airstrip,

with all of the capabilities
of any airfield,

and it can be moved
anywhere in the world.

As tall as a giant sequoia,

longer than 60 New York cabs,

and almost the width
of an airbus A380,

it can hold up to 75 aircraft
and accommodate 4,500 crew.

In the dry dock, the second
of this brand-new class,

the John F. Kennedy,
is currently being assembled.

Construction director
Geoff Hummel

is supervising part
of the mammoth build.

When we're done

building her,
we'll deliver a ship

of a little over 80,000 tons
of displacement.

When the Navy actually loads
it up with crew and planes

and supplies, it'll be close
to 100,000 tons going to sea.

It will take more
than 3.9 million pounds

of welded metal
to complete this ship.

Construction on this scale

creates huge
logistical challenges.

The solution is
to build the Kennedy

in a series of massive sections,

known as super lifts.

Right behind us is what we call
the lower bow super lift.

It's about 60 feet tall,
a little over 100 feet long.

It's made up of seven units
that were built

in our steels shops,
brought over here,

and joined into
one giant super lift.

And then if you look over,
just aft of it,

what you'll see
is the beginnings

of what we'll call
the upper bow.

You can actually see
the leading edge of flight deck

there with that rolled shape.

That's actually gonna be
the very bow of the ship.

These mega-structures
are only possible

because of a staggering piece
of engineering...

One of the largest cranes
in the world.

Behind me here is what we call
our 1,050-ton crane.

Other people affectionately
know it as "big blue."

This crane is rated
for 1,050 metric tons.

It's a very capable crane.

The crane has two rails running
what we call east and west,

towards and away from the river.

It spans about 540 feet
between the rails,

and it's about 230 feet tall.

When you're maneuvering
1,100-ton steel sections,

there's no room for error.

Big blue's three hoists
allow pinpoint precision.

With this crane,
you're actually making one move

with all three hoists
being synchronized.

It's got some
pretty good precision,

as far as how accurately

we can place the unit,
or move the unit,

to get it within
an inch or less.

And then we can
actually use some Jacks

to position the unit
exactly where we want it.

It's just cool, man.

But once at sea,
the Ford class's sheer scale

poses another enormous problem.

As their missions will last
for months at a time,

propelling a ship of this size

with traditional thirsty
combustion engines

is out of the question.

Not only that,
the power needs to satisfy

the demands of over 4,500 crew.

A new power source is needed.

Can the innovators of the past

shed any light on the problem?

Cartagena in southeast Spain

could harbor a solution
for the Ford class.

Former Spanish submariner
Diego Quevedo

is visiting
the historic naval base

of a nation
that once ruled the waves.

By the 1800s,

the might of the Spanish Navy
may have faded away,

but in 1888,

a new breed of maritime
engineering surfaced.

The world's first

fully-functioning
military submersible,

the 72-foot long peral
changed the face of warfare.

But the Spanish engineers
had the same problem

as the one facing
the Ford class...

How to power the peral

on long missions
through the world's oceans.

However, a combustion
engine's toxic fumes

would be deadly
in this air-tight steel tube.

So, how did the Spanish Navy
power the peral,

and how can the answer help

to drive the greatest warship
ever built?

The peral submarine
was the first submersible vessel

of its kind in history,

and the Spanish Navy
needed a way to power it

without the toxic fumes of
a traditional combustion engine.

The submarine's designer,

naval engineer Isaac peral
had an ingenious answer.

To create sustainable power
beneath the waves,

he turned to electricity.

And today, Diego Quevedo

has special access
to the heart of the solution.

The peral was lined
with 33 tons' worth

of rechargeable
lead-acid batteries.

Their first job...

To propel its sleek structure
through the depths.

Virtually every system on board
was also battery-powered,

making this the world's first
truly self-sufficient sub,

cementing peral's contribution
to marine power.

The peral's batteries allowed it

to cruise underwater
for a few hours

with a range
of 132 nautical miles,

but the Ford class' power source
can keep it at sea

for months at a time
without refueling.

Building on modern
submarine technology,

the solution is a pair

of state-of-the-art
nuclear reactors.

One of the major advantages

to having nuclear power
is an engineering feat

of actually getting 100,000 tons
of displacement

with the aircraft carrier
through the water

at about 35-plus knots.

We are able to have 4.5 acres
of sovereign American soil

anywhere in the world
for up to 25 years

at a time under nuclear power.

The nuclear reactor split
uranium, producing heat,

which converts water to steam,
powering four turbines.

These rotate four propeller
shafts to drive

the 1,100-foot-long carrier.

But the reactor's output
is so immense

they can also produce
huge amounts of electricity.

Unlike any carrier before it,

virtually everything
on the trailblazing Ford class

is powered by electricity.

USS Gerald R. Ford
carries a load

of 13.8 thousand kilovolts
of amperage.

So you're looking at three times
the amount of electrical load

that the aircraft carriers
before us have ever had,

and that allows us
for some of the new technology

that we have on board.

And over 9.8 million feet
of electrical cabling

also provide energy
for the 4,500 crew on board.

The USS Gerald R. Ford
is a floating city,

so we have every service
that a civilian counterpart

or an actual township that
you might live in might have.

We have a post office,
we have gyms,

we have a coffee shop,
we have laundry service.

We have that on board so that
we can sustain ourselves out

for long periods of time
and really be effective.

But the civilian services are
not the ship's main attraction.

It is, after all, a warship.

This brand-new carrier class
has 17 decks.

Its colossal flight deck
stretches to five acres.

It boasts supersized engineering

designed to deploy more
aircraft missions

than ever before
in any part of the world.

The first of this game-changing
fleet

has only recently been
commissioned into the us Navy.

USS Gerald R. Ford is setting
the standard and setting the baR

on the way that aircraft
carriers around the world

and the way that naval
operations are gonna be

dealt with and sustained.

10 record-breaking carriers

will eventually make up
the Ford class.

The second of which,
the John F. Kennedy,

is currently being assembled.

When completed, it will be
well over 950 feet long,

but its runway will only be

around 1/7
of a normal runway's length.

Launching
aircraft in this distance

poses a huge problem
for engineer Gabe Sava.

The runway on this carrier
is gonna be just under 350 feet.

So the greatest challenge

involved in launching
an aircraft from a carrier

is that you only have
a fraction of the runway

that an aircraft typically
would need in order to take off.

To get the aircraft
to the adequate speed,

we have to use
a system of launching,

which is a catapult system
that propels

and accelerates the aircraft
so that it can take off.

To date, launch catapults
have been steam-driven,

but these systems
lack acceleration control

and would rip apart
the Ford class' lighter aircraft

such as unmanned drones.

Steam-powered catapults,
by their very nature,

can put a lot of loads
or stress on the aircraft.

In addition, steam catapults
require a lot of maintenance.

There's a lot of corrosion
within the troughs

because there's
a lot of moisture.

Engineers needed a way
to get aircraft up to speed

while also protecting
their structural integrity

and that of
the launching apparatus.

To do so,
they would have to turn

to the innovators of the past.

On the U.S. Navy's
most advanced warship ever,

traditional ship-to-air

launch techniques
weren't going to cut it.

The team behind this
monster vessel

needed a way to get aircraft up
to launch speed

with about 1/7
of the traditional runway.

The Ford class' engineers

proposed
a groundbreaking solution...

Catapult power generated
by electromagnetics.

Petty officer Daniel Rivera
is part of the launch team

involved in the initial testing.

We have to perform
what's called dead-load testing.

A dead load is, essentially,
a big piece of metal on wheels

that represents
different aircraft weights.

And pretty much,
we were on the flight deck,

and we launch each dead load.

The dead loads will go
actually off the boat.

They will take off and fly
over into the James river.

Concealed below the catapult's
shuttle and rails,

the electromagnetic
aircraft-launch system,

known as Emals,

uses the ship's power to create
an enormous electrical charge.

The system uses 13,800 kilovolts

that's being generated
from the ship

in order to power the equipment,

and with that energy, we're able
to launch an aircraft zero

to about 150 miles per hour
in just under 3 seconds.

With the plane on 100% throttle,
this huge shot of electricity

is released into a series
of electromagnets

positioned down
two launch rails.

A powerful magnetic wave propels

the attached plane
off the runway.

With Emals, the power that we
produce during each aircraft

launch is a lot more controlled.

So, for that reason,

we can be able to launch
a wider range of aircraft.

Using computer software

while the catapult
is going down the track,

it knows how much power
is needed

in order to get that aircraft
off the deck.

But sometimes even the mighty
Emals catapult

isn't enough to get
the jets off the deck.

Chief petty officer Jeremy
Stoecklein has experienced

this potentially dangerous
situation firsthand.

There are times that we're out
in the middle of the ocean,

depending on weather,
depending on what the aircraft

needs to be loaded down with,

sometimes that aircraft
doesn't have enough power

on 100% throttle
to reach that minimum air speed,

and sometimes we need
just a little bit extra.

For the engineers,

this is a problem
that could end in disaster.

If the aircraft
didn't have enough power,

it could be very catastrophic,

because the aircraft could end
up going into the water

and not taking off at all.

So how can these phenomenal
gets produce more power?

It's a challenge that's been
faced in the past.

Engineer Dan Dickrell is
at the Patuxent river

naval air base in Maryland,

the site of
an extraordinary innovation

that could provide a solution
for the Ford class.

This is a t-38 Talon.

It's a two-seat trainer.

It's powered by two
general electric J85 engines.

Top speed's over
1,200 miles per hour,

which is supersonic,
faster than the speed of sound.

Today, the t-38 is entering
the hush house,

a secretive test facility
where engineers can see

how jet engines
perform up close.

All right,
so the T-38's tied down.

The test is about to begin.

Let's do it.

With special clearance
just feet from the engine,

Dan is witnessing a test
that will reveal one of the keys

to a successful
aircraft-carrier launch.

Here we go.
Test is beginning.

Pretty excited.

You can hear it fueling up.

This incredible sight is created

by what's known
as an afterburner.

It's the secret to producing
the thrust required

by the Ford class' jets.

It was invented over 85 years
ago by sir frank whittle,

one of the forefathers
of the aircraft engine.

A meteor jet plane is ready
for an unofficial approach

to the sound barrier.

During the 1940s,
the race was on,

not only to break
the sound barrier,

but also to reach
1,000 miles per hour.

Jet engines needed more power,

but making them bigger
was out of the question.

So whittle devised his radical
solution, the afterburner.

See, it's right here on the back
of the engine.

It vastly increases the amount
of thrust

that's available to the engine

without adding much weight or
complexity to the engine itself.

With minimal adjustments,
whittle figured out how to

dramatically outperform
the standard jet engine,

and his ingenious modification
holds the key

to getting aircraft
from the deck

of a Ford-class
aircraft carrier to the skies.

When engineers behind
the Ford-class aircraft carrier

needed to get aircraft
from deck to air

using about 1/7
of the runway space,

the answer was thrust,
and they turned to sir frank

whittle's historic innovation
to provide it.

A standard jet engine
takes air in, adds fuel,

and ignites the mixture,
propelling the aircraft forward.

Whittle realized much of
the oxygen was unused,

so he added more fuel
at the rear of the engine

to utilize it.

This creates a massive amount
of extra thrust.

When you're designing something,

the simpler is
usually the better,

and whittle's solution
is amazingly simple

yet its performance
increase is brilliant.

To fully appreciate
the afterburn experience,

and air-force veteran,
bud green,

is reacquainting himself
with the f-100,

the first us jet
to fly supersonic.

Zero to 62 miles per hour
takes just seconds.

Oh.

At top speed, it smashes
through the sound barrier.

Courtesy of a staggering
piece of engineering.

We were going about 320 or
something like that when he lit it,

and you can really
feel the kick.

Just, all of a sudden,
you've got a whole bunch

of additional thrust,

and it just knocks you
on the rear end.

It was fun.

Does really kick.

Unbelievable.

Whittle's afterburner concept
changed the game

for Ford class' jets.

The ability of the aircraft
to have this afterburner option

increases our flexibility

and allows us to go up in weight
with that extra boost of energy

that will allow us to reach
that minimum air speed

so we can carry
more ordinance, more fuel,

anything that we need
to complete our mission.

Launching over 200 jets a day

is an incredible feat
of engineering,

but it's only half the story.

Bringing them home
is even harder.

Landing an aircraft
is definitely

one of the most
dangerous activities

that you do on the flight deck.

Somehow, the jets have to stop

in just 1/7
of a normal runway's length

or they'll end up in the water.

Can a bold pioneer
from the past provide a solution

to this seemingly
impossible challenge?

It may be hard to believe,

but this beautiful biplane
could hold the key

to landing
on the Ford-class carriers.

Engineer Dan Dickrell
is in Virginia, discovering how.

So, that motorless airplane
that just took off

is the Ely Curtiss pusher.

Even though that's a replica,
it was built in 1910,

and it first flew in 1911.

The Curtiss pusher is unique

because it was the first plane
to take off from a warship,

but American Eugene Ely
wasn't satisfied.

He also wanted to land
his plane on a ship.

However, he only had
120 feet to work with,

a problem demonstrated as
today's flight draws to a close.

When the biplane landed,

it first touched down
right about here,

and it coasted to a stop.

I'm gonna pace it off and see
how far it took

to come to a complete stop.

If this plane was
landing on Ely's ship,

anything over 120 feet
would've ended in disaster.

All right, here.
Hey, boom, how's it going?

- How you doing?
- Terrific. How much was it?

It was 275 feet.

Ugh.
It would've smacked probably

right into the superstructure
of the ship in that case,

or over the side if there
wasn't a superstructure.

But Ely had the help of engineer
Hugh Robinson,

who came up with an idea
to bring his aircraft

safely to a halt.

It's a solution that could help
the Ford class.

Robinson came up
with arresting gear.

This was a system
that was designed

to bring the plane to a stop.

It was a little more
than rope and sandbags.

Robinson tied the rope
between the sandbags

across the ship's deck.

The plan was to transfer
the landing plane's momentum

into the heavy bags
by adding a tailhook

that would snag the rope
as the plane passed over it.

And in 1911, this simple
solution brought

Ely's plane safely
to a standstill in just 30 feet

on board the converted warship.

That particular innovation
was the example

that landing aircraft
on ships was possible.

It really paved the way
for what we see today.

Now the Ford class' engineers

are adapting Robinson's
ingenious concept.

But at 65 times heavier
and 4 times faster,

their jets will require
more than rope and sandbags.

The team behind the Ford class
will have to supersize

the innovative
concept of arresting gear

to bring
the carrier's Navy aircraft

safely back down to earth.

With little
deck space to land on,

the engineers designing
the Ford-class aircraft carrier

needed a way to stop descending
aircraft in their tracks.

The solution is
a cutting-edge system

known as
advanced arresting gear.

The current
advanced-arresting-gear system

on the Ford can arrest aircraft
up to 50,000 pounds.

In order to do this,
it has to have precise controls

so that you don't overstress
the aircraft.

As the aircraft approaches,

it picks up the pendant
off the deck.

The cable tension then goes
through a cable shock absorber.

The shock absorber takes out
the wave in the cable.

It's kind of like car shocks.

Then the braking power
is provided by a water twister.

Situated below deck,

the water twister is a paddle
wheel submerged in fluid.

Its rotation provides
frictional resistance,

absorbing around 2/3
of the landing's energy.

The remainder of the arrestment
is controlled precisely

by a motor generator
that takes that kinetic energy

and turns it into
electrical energy

that is then stored
for later uses on AAG.

The advanced arresting gear
is also incredibly adaptable.

During a two-second landing,
computer controls continually

adjust the gear according
to the aircraft's weight.

In other words,
I can arrest lighter aircraft

than I would've been able to
with my old system

or heavier aircraft

because I have the ability to
actively control the arrestment.

This system also actively
compensates for the aircraft

being potentially off-center
or off-target,

and it is able to control
the payout of cable

in order to reduce the amount
of stress on the aircraft

and land it safely.

Brilliant engineering is taking
another of history's

inspired innovations
into the 21st century.

For those who serve on board,
the Ford class is undoubtedly

taking aircraft-carrier design
to new heights.

The fact that
a 17-deck, 4.5-acre,

100,000-ton in-weight ship

can be in service for 50 years
is just an incredible thought.

Through
the extraordinary efforts

of its designers and crew,

this ambitious class is changing
the face of marine engineering.

For me, it's a tremendous honor
to be part of the team

coming together to put together
this great Navy ship.

By building on the work of the
pioneers of the past,

upscaling, and making
their own discoveries,

the engineers are succeeding

in making the impossible
possible.

Where we go from here...
Really, the sky's the limit,

And I think
USS Gerald R. Ford shows

that impossible engineering
is not so impossible.

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