VIDEO: US Navy Completes New Explosive Shock Trials

The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier experienced its third shipboard explosion during Full Ship Shock Trials (FSST) on Aug. 9, confirming its shock hardness and ability to handle combat operations using live ordnance. The first-in-class aircraft carrier had to endure three 40,000-pound underwater blasts as they were fired progressively closer to the ship during the four-month testing evolution. 

Capt. Brian Metcalf, manager for the Navy’s future aircraft carrier program office, says that the goal of the tests is to ensure that Ford’s integrated combat systems perform as designed and, as such, the trials were designed to mimic real-world scenarios to stress-test Ford’s combat systems.