Ford (CVN 78), the latest nuclear (nuclear powered) aircraft carrier of the US Navy, considered the strongest in the world, arrived in Norway on the 24th (local time), the first stop after deployment. Russia protested, saying it was a show of force that increased military tensions in Northern Europe. Norway, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), shares a 219 km land and sea border with Russia in the Arctic region.
The US aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford entered the Port of Oslo along the Oslo Fjord in Norway on the 25th. AP = Yonhap News
US aircraft carriers visit Norway after 65 years
According to AFP on that day, the USS Gerald R. Ford entered Oslo Port along the Oslo Fjord in Norway. The US Navy announced that a US aircraft carrier had visited Norway for the first time in 65 years. After staying here for a few days, the carrier will take part in maritime exercises with 14 Western countries in the Arctic Ocean from the 29th.
“Norway, as a strategic partnership, is committed to ongoing efforts to maintain security and stability in the Arctic and North Atlantic regions that are conducive to the world order,” said Commander Eric J. We are together ,” he said.
The Norwegian military said, “The arrival and deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford is a unique opportunity to develop and deepen cooperation with our most important ally, the United States.” Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram emphasized that “the entry of US aircraft carriers is a clear expression of the security guarantees we have through NATO.”
On this day, the Port of Oslo was packed with local broadcasters and citizens to watch Gerald R. Ford’s ship enter the port. A citizen told NRK TV in Norway, “After seeing large ships here during the Cold War in the 1950s, I have never seen such a large aircraft carrier.”
US Navy personnel stand on the deck of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford along the Oslo Fjord, Norway, on May 24, 2018. Reuters = Yonhap News
Russia protests that “the logic of the armed demonstration is not correct”
Gerald R. Fordham’s visit to Norway came amid heightened tensions between the West and Russia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, AFP reported. The Russian side immediately objected to the US nuclear aircraft carrier’s visit to Norway.
Timur Chekhanov, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Norway, said, “There are no problems in Northern Europe that require external intervention, let alone problems that require a military solution.” Protests are irrational and harmful.”
Named after Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States, the aircraft carrier was launched in 2013 and commissioned in 2017. Earlier this month, it left the port of Norfolk, Virginia, for actual use.
It is the 11th nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the history of the US Navy and is the largest of existing aircraft carriers. The total length is about 351m, the width of the ship is about 41m (the flight deck is 80m), and the full load displacement, which refers to the size of the ship, is 112,000 tonnes. It is a very large scale that can load more than 75 aircraft. The number of crew members is reduced by 600 compared to the current aircraft carrier, and it is operated with approximately 2,600 people due to automated processing with various advanced technologies.
It can be supplied with unlimited power for 20 years by installing two state-of-the-art nuclear reactors, and has an electronic ejection device (EMALS) and forced landing gear (AAG), so it has higher aircraft operating capabilities than existing aircraft carriers, and it is called an “advanced nuclear aircraft carrier.” A staggering 13.5 billion dollars (about 18 trillion won) was invested in the drying cost alone.
In 2021, there was also an underwater explosion durability test where powerful explosives exploded underwater near the trap, and it became a hot topic as it did not move even in the face of a huge water column.
NATO plans to help modernize Ukraine’s army in July
Meanwhile, NATO’s 31 member states are expected to agree on an aid plan to modernize Ukraine’s armed forces “NATO style” at a summit in July. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a forum hosted by the German Marshall Fund, a US think tank held in Brussels, Belgium on the 24th, “At the summit, a multi-year aid program to help the military transition Ukrainian from the first. Soviet style to NATO standard will actually be agreed. I see it,” he said.
However, the current situation reaffirmed that Ukraine’s NATO membership is impossible in a war situation. “Everyone knows now, in the middle of a war, that NATO membership is not subject to negotiation,” he said. “The most important issue now is for Ukraine to win the war as an independent sovereign state.”
Reporter Park So-young park.soyoung0914@joongang.co.kr
