The US Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, successfully launched and recovered a fighter jet for the first time. http://cnn.it/2uj2uwt | CNN

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and its escort ships are expected to head from the Caribbean to the Middle East, three U.S. officials told CBS News, adding a second aircraft carrier to the region as tensions between the U.S. and Iran continue to simmer. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio explains what this could mean. | CBS News

Watch as history is made aboard the future USS Gerald R. Ford - CVN 78 with two "dead-load" test launches Friday, firing sleds from the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) into the James River in Newport News, Va. | U.S. Navy

The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was seen transiting the Strait of Gibraltar as it heads toward the Middle East. The deployment comes as the United States increases its military presence in the region amid rising tensions with Iran. The movement of the carrier signals a bolstering of U.S. naval operations in strategically sensitive waters. #USSGeraldRFord | #AircraftCarrier | #straitofgibraltar | #middleeast | #iran | #RepublicWorld | Republic

The Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are currently being constructed for the United States Navy, which intends to eventually acquire ten of these ships in order to replace current carriers on a one-for-one basis, starting with the lead ship of her class, Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), replacing Enterprise (CVN-65), and later the Nimitz-class carriers. The new vessels have a hull similar to the Nimitz class, but they carry technologies since developed with the CVN(X)/CVN-21 progra