Four Years Late And Billions Over Budget The Aircraft Carrier USS Gerald Ford To Deploy Next Year

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) departed Naval Station Norfolk to transit to Newport News Shipbuilding in support of her Planned Incremental Availability (PIA), a six-month period of modernization, maintenance, and repairs, Aug. 20, 2021. US Navy Photo  

USNI News: Strike Group Commander: USS Gerald R. Ford Set For First Deployment in 2022 

The Navy is set to deploy USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) for the first time in 2022, four years later than the original maiden deployment date of 2018. 

After facing a series of delays and working out reliability problems with multiple new technologies, the $13 billion lead ship in the new Ford class of aircraft carriers is currently in the middle of the last maintenance phase ahead of its maiden deployment and will soon be available for Navy tasking.  

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Update #1: Navy’s new aircraft carrier to deploy next year, four years later than expected (Washington Examiner)  

Update #2: USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier should finally deploy next year (Business Insider)  

WNU Editor: Finally!