Navy christens aircraft carrier Gerald Ford

NORFOLK, Va. - The Navy christened the USS Gerald Ford on Saturday with the traditional smashing of a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow of the ship - the most technologically advanced aircraft carrier the United States has built.

The Ford is the lead ship in the Navy's next class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. It is designed to get more fighter planes in the sky in less time and to be ready to incorporate unmanned aircraft into its air wing. It is the first carrier redesign in four decades and is scheduled to join the fleet in 2016.

Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, said in a webcast ceremony at the Newport News, Va., shipyard where the Ford is being built, called the ship "a technological marvel."

Saturday's christening was one part tribute to the future of naval warfare and one part tribute to the ship's namesake, former President Gerald R. Ford, who was a lieutenant commander aboard an aircraft carrier during World War II.

Ford's daughter, Susan Ford Bales, is the ship's sponsor and had the duty of smashing the wine bottle into the ship.