On Tuesday, Oct. 4, the US Navy's newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, departed Norfolk, Va., for its first combat tour to conduct ship testing and training exercises with allies in North America and Europe.

This was reported by CNN with reference to the statement of Rear Admiral Gregory Huffman of the US Navy.

“The USS Gerald Ford and the aircraft carrier strike group will operate with allies and partners in the 2nd and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The deployment will be shorter than the standard six-month deployment," he said.

Approximately 9,000 military personnel from nine countries, 20 ships and 60 aircraft will be involved in the combat coordination.

In addition to the United States, military personnel from Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden are taking part in the exercises.

Other ships of the carrier strike group will join the USS Gerald Ford on Wednesday, October 5.

The USS Gerald Ford is the first new aircraft carrier to be developed in more than 40 years, according to the US Navy.

Its construction officially began in November 2009, and in 2017 it was put into operation.

The aircraft carrier has new advanced technology that uses an electromagnetic aircraft launch system instead of the previous steam catapult system.

The newest system places less strain on aircraft as they are launched from the carrier and allows for shorter time between launches.

The aircraft carrier also has a dual-band radar, which is a more advanced radar system.