In January 2007, the US Navy announced that the new class would be called the Gerald R Ford Class.
Gerald R. Ford class (or Ford class, previously known as CVN-21 class) is a class of supercarriers currently being built to replace some of the United States Navy's existing Nimitz-class carriers beginning in 2016 when CVN-78 is delivered to the U.S. Navy. The new vessels will have a hull similar to the Nimitz carriers, but will introduce technologies developed since the initial design of the previous class (such as the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System), as well as other design features intended to improve efficiency and operating costs, including reduced crew requirement. The first ship of the class, USS Gerald R. Ford, has hull number CVN-78.