Tag: AAG

New Report On The Navy’s Troubled Ford Class Aircraft Carrier Is Literally The Shits

Carriers, Ford Class, Navies, Sea, U.S. Navy, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78),

As if the U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford, hasn’t had enough troubles, a new report has revealed the toilets, and the sewage system that they feed into, are clogging on an “unexpected and frequent” basis. As a result and due to the overall system’s design, maintenance personnel now have to routinely flush the entire thing with an acid wash, a process that costs the service $400,000 each time.

Top Navy Official Lashes Out Over Troubled New Carrier That May Not Be Ready Until 2024 Now

Carriers, Ford Class, Navies, News & Features, Procurement, Sea, U.S. Navy, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78),

Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer decried comments from Congress earlier in the week as particularly “disparaging” and tantamount to a “disinformation program” benefiting America’s opponents. This is a far cry from the “the buck stops here” tone Spencer had struck in January, when he said that President Donald Trump should fire him if any of the carrier’s advanced weapons elevators, or AWEs, were not working when the ship leaves its latest maintenance availability, something that will almost certainly be the case now.

The Navy’s Troubled New Carrier Still Only Has Two Working Weapons Elevators

Carriers, Ford Class, Naval Munitions, Navies, Sea, U.S. Navy, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78),

The U.S. Navy’s long-troubled first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford could leave an already extended stay in dry dock later this year with just two of its 11 Advanced Weapons Elevators, or AWEs, operational. In January 2019, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer had publicly said that President Donald Trump should fire him if this were to happen.

Navy’s F-35C Stealth Fighters Won’t Fly From Troubled New Ford Class Carriers For Years

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Members of Congress want to make it illegal for the U.S. Navy to accept delivery its next Ford-class aircraft carrier, the future USS John F. Kennedy, unless it can launch and recover F-35C Joint Strike Fighters. But the proposal highlights something that is perhaps more damning, that the USS Gerald R. Ford cannot deploy those stealthy aircraft in its present configuration. This just adds to the woes for the troubled first-in-class flattop two years after its delivery.