United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran named “Epic Wrath,” resulting in the death of Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, during the airstrikes. Since February 28, the U.S. military has utilized powerful airstrikes to destroy a significant number of Iranian missiles and missile production bases, naval vessels, Iranian naval submarines, anti-ship missile launch sites, and military communication facilities. The U.S. Central Command responsible for this operation has released a series of naval and air combat images to showcase the latest developments in the conflict.
Among the images provided is the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, carrying a fleet of F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets, Seahawk helicopters, Growler electronic warfare aircraft, Lightning II fighter jets, conducting flight missions, and sailors engaging in underway replenishment operations during the “Epic Wrath” mission in the eastern Mediterranean.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the lead ship of the Gerald R. Ford-class carriers. With a full load displacement of approximately 100,000 tons and a length of 1,100 feet (about 335 meters), it can carry over 75 aircraft, making it the largest aircraft carrier in the world. It is also the first carrier worldwide to use an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) instead of traditional steam catapults. The EMALS utilizes magnetism instead of steam to power the aircraft catapults, allowing the Ford to launch aircraft at faster speeds while carrying heavier weapons and more fuel, thereby enhancing its aircraft range and lethality.
The Ford aircraft carrier employs electronic warfare and Nulka active missile decoys to intercept incoming missiles. These soft kill systems can render the enemy’s radar-guided projectiles ineffective, diverting threats away from the carrier entirely.
The USS Abraham Lincoln CVN-72, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is the fifth vessel of its class built by Newport News Shipbuilding, laid down in 1984 and launched in 1988. From utilizing “ghost” signals to stealth aircraft, the Lincoln can obscure the fleet’s location, confounding Iran’s surveillance systems and preventing the exact position of the carrier strike group from being determined. It uses electronic warfare equipment, jamming, and deceptive signals to disrupt Iran’s radar. Typically, this carrier strike group operates under strict Electromagnetic Emission Control (EMCON), shielding electronic signals to blend into the ocean’s background noise, making it difficult for long-range sensors to lock onto targets and challenging adversaries to pinpoint the carrier’s exact coordinates.