After years of delay, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the lead ship in the U.S. Navy's newest class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, finally began sea trials this week.

The largest aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy and in the world will commence its long-delayed sea trials ahead of its commissioning into the navy, hopefully within this year.

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Her commissioning will give the Navy 11 operational nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the largest number of carriers in active service with any country. CVN-78 will also be the most technologically advanced aircraft carrier in the world.

It will be the first carrier to deploy unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for reconnaissance and attack as a standard complement.

The Ford will be the first to deploy new technologies such as the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) to launch its aircraft and the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) to recover them Her AN/SPY-3 active electronically scanned array multi-function radar is effective in both blue water and littoral operations.

CVN-78 and the two other carriers in its class that are building will have the electric power to fire electromagnetic railguns and combat lasers. These advanced features, however, have been the main causes of the delays that have pushed back the launch of the carrier.

The navy announced construction of CVN-78 was 99 percent complete last January. She was to have been launched in 2014 but numerous technical problems and cost overruns delayed her launch to this year.

CVN-78 is the lead ship in a new class of supercarrier that will complement the existing fleet of 10 Nimitz-class supercarriers. She will directly replace the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) retired in 2012.

The Ford was to have joined the fleet in March 2016 but teething troubles with its new systems have pushed that back to an uncertain date later in 2017 or 2018.

Apart from the Gerald R. Ford, the other two carriers in the class are the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) and the USS Enterprise (CVN-80).