Dan Grazier, National Interest: Is America's Most Deadly Aircraft Carrier Ever in Trouble?
There’s a near-certainty that upcoming testing of Ford will require major redesign and retrofits to it, and corresponding design changes for Kennedy and Enterprise.
The problems with the ship’s systems, including the catapult, are well-known. But Trump still caught virtually every Pentagon watcher off guard when, in the middle of a wide-ranging Time interview , he said he had directed the Navy to abandon the new “digital” aircraft catapult on future Ford-class carriers. Instead he wants the Navy to revert to the proven steam catapults, which have been in use for decades.
Pres. Donald Trump used the Navy’s next-generation aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, as a backdrop to unveil his vision for the next defense budget in March 2017.
The moment was meant to symbolize his commitment to rebuilding the military, but it also positioned the president in front of a monument to the Navy’s and defense industry’s ability to justify spending billions in taxypayer dollars on unproven technologies that often deliver worse performance at a higher cost.
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WNU Editor: I can easily see this (in the end) costing $15 billion and more. On top of everything else, the U.S. Navy wants to order a fourth aircraft carrier .... The Navy Wants 1 More Ford-Class Aircraft Carrier. Russia and China Should Worry. (National Interest)
What a disgrace.
ReplyDeleteThis is the ultimate proof concurrent design and manufacturing doesn't work at all for big ticket items.
ReplyDelete"Oh hey, let's just build out an entire system without doing the necessary testing on its constituent parts."
"We need voltage regulators? Just use old ones meant for the Nimitz class... What do you mean that is dangerously stupid? Jam it in anyway."
Yeah, I have a slight passion on the subject.