Biden announces names of future aircraft carriers: USS William J Clinton, George W Bush

President Joe Biden announced the names of the newest aircraft carriers that will join the U.S. Navy: the USS William J. Clinton and the USS George W. Bush.

The carriers, named after former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, will begin construction in the “years ahead” as part of the latest class of aircraft carriers, according to the White House.

“When I personally delivered the news to Bill and George, they were deeply humbled,” Biden said in a statement Monday. “Each knows firsthand the weight of the responsibilities that come with being Commander-in-Chief.  And both know well our duty to support the families and loved ones who wait and worry for the safe return of their servicemember.”

The Navy currently has 11 operational aircraft carriers, some of which are nearly 50 years old and will be retired in recent years. Of these carriers, eight bear the names of former presidents: the USS George Washington, the USS Abraham Lincoln, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the USS Harry S. Truman, the USS Ronald Reagan, the USS George W. Bush, and the USS Gerald R. Ford.

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the future carriers Clinton and Bush will “serve as lasting tributes to each leader’s legacy in service of the United States.”

“Aircraft carriers are the centerpiece of America’s naval forces, and they ensure that the United States can project power and deliver combat capability anytime, anywhere in defense of our democracy,” Austin said in a statement Monday.

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“Like their namesakes, these two future carriers, and the crews who sail them, will work to safeguard our national security, remind us of our history, and inspire others to serve our great republic,” Austin said.

The future carriers Clinton and Bush are part of the Ford-class carriers to join the fleet.

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These newest carriers are outfitted with more than 20 new technologies in comparison to the previous, Nimitz-class carriers that the Navy started using in 1975. Technology upgrades include a new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, known as EMALS, that launches aircraft from the ship electronically, rather than using steam-powered equipment.

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President-elect Donald Trump previously called for a 12-carrier Navy during his first term as president in 2017, and has signaled interest recently in possibly expanding the sea service’s force in his second term as well.

“We’re going to be announcing some things that are going to be very good having to do with the Navy,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt this month. “We need ships. We have to get ships. And you know, everybody said, ‘Oh, we’ll build them.’ We may have to go to others, bid them out, and it’s okay to do that. We’ll bid them out until we get ourselves ready.”