USS Gerald R. Ford Sails Into Oslo For NATO Exercises

 

Reuters: Massive US Aircraft Carrier Sails Into Oslo for NATO Exercises 

OSLO (Reuters) -The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, sailed into Oslo on Wednesday, a first for such a U.S. ship, in a show of NATO force at a time of heightened tension between NATO and Russia over the war in Ukraine. 

The ship and its crew will be conducting training exercises with the Norwegian armed forces along the country's coast in the coming days, the Norwegian military said. 

"This visit is an important signal of the close bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Norway and a signal of the credibility of collective defence and deterrence," said Jonny Karlsen, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, the operational command centre of the military. 

At one spot on the Oslo fjord, dozens of people of all ages gathered on the shore to observe the vessel as it cruised by, taking pictures and videos.  

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USS Gerald R. Ford Sails Into Oslo For NATO Exercises  

US aircraft carrier arrives in NATO member Norway, to take part in drills -- AP  

World's biggest warship visits Oslo, angering Russia -- AFP  

World’s Biggest Warship Visits Oslo, Angering Russia -- AFP

US Navy's Newest Supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford Underway With All Its Available Airpower For The First Time

 

Business Insider: The US Navy's newest supercarrier is underway with all its available airpower for the first time 

* The Navy's newest supercarrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, is underway with all its airpower. 

* This is the first time the $13 billion ship operated with its entire air wing embarked, a Navy official told Insider. 

* The Ford is underway for a composite training unit exercise known as COMPTUEX, the official said. 

USS Gerald R. Ford — the US Navy's newest supercarrier — is operating underway with all of its available airpower for the first time. 

A Navy official confirmed to Insider reporting from Navy Times that this is the first time the entire carrier air wing has been embarked on the Ford for an underway period. The ship is underway for a composite training unit exercise known as COMPTUEX. 

This exercise "assesses a carrier strike group's abilities to conduct military operations at sea and project power ashore through joint planning and execution of challenging and realistic training scenarios," 2nd Fleet spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Kristi Johnson told Insider. "This evaluation is planned and executed by the Carrier Strike Group 4 staff, and it tests the mission-readiness of deployable assets to perform as an integrated unit."  

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Update #1: Aircraft carrier Ford embarks with full air wing for first time (Navy Times)  

Update #2: VIDEO: Navy’s Newest Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Faces Toughest Test Yet (USNI News)  

WNU Editor: The Ford Carrier Strike Group is expected to deploy on its first full-length deployment sometime later this year.

Design Layouts And Advanced Technologies Have Improved The Ford-class Carrier Sortie Rate

 

Naval News: New Technologies Improve Ford-class Carrier Sortie Rate  

Improved design layouts and advanced technologies onboard the US Navy’s (USN’s) new Ford-class aircraft carriers are enabling enhanced aircraft operations onboard and a higher sortie generation rate, a USN officer onboard first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford confirmed.  

New design approaches including installing three aircraft elevators (rather than the four onboard the predecessor Nimitz-class carriers), moving the ship’s island further aft, and having the refuelling station built into the flight deck, alongside introducing new technology for example with the advanced weapons elevators (AWEs), means aircraft onboard can be re-fuelled, re-loaded, re-located, and re-launched more effectively, Commander Richard Rosenbusch, Ford’s Assistant Air Officer, told an onboard media briefing while the carrier visited Portsmouth, UK during its maiden operational deployment.

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WNU Editor: The USS Gerald Ford's maiden deployment has come to an end.

That wraps up Ford’s maiden deployment ⚓️ #WeAreWarship78 #IntegrityAtTheHelm pic.twitter.com/l1OMRmQRJJ

— USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) (@Warship_78) November 30, 2022

USS Gerald R. Ford Conducts Exercises Against Enemy Air Attack For The First Time

US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in the Atlantic Ocean, June 4, 2020 US Navy/MCS2 Ruben Reed

Business Insider: The Navy's newest aircraft carrier trained to lead defenses against enemy air attack for the first time

* Sailors aboard the Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford conducted an Air Intercept Control event on July 30 — the crew's first such exercise.
* The drill tests the carrier's ability to lead a carrier strike group's mission to defend the carrier and the rest of the force's ships against air attack.

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) completed an Air Intercept Control (AIC) event on July 30. A first for the crew, this accomplishment was another milestone of Ford's operational progress as she passes the half-way point of her 18-month Post-Delivery Test and Trials (PDT&T).

AIC missions are required to increase the Combat Direction Center's proficiency through training. AIC missions are also an opportunity to demonstrate integration with Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12 as part of the air-defense mission to defend Ford and the rest of the force.

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WNU Editor: The USS Gerald Ford is currently at the half-way point of her 18-month Post-Delivery Test and Trials (PDT&T).

Here Are Some Of The Problems Plaguing The Aircraft Carrier USS Gerald Ford

USS Gerald R. Ford in the Atlantic Ocean, May 13, 2020. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Angel Thuy Jaskuloski

Washington Times: USS Headache: Navy's newest aircraft carrier stymied by snafus from the start

The USS Gerald R. Ford is a massive, gray-hulled city on the sea. Powered by two nuclear reactors, it is longer than three football fields and displaces 100,000 tons. When the air wing is attached, the Ford provides a base for dozens of jets and helicopters and more than 4,500 sailors.

But it was conceived as far more than just another Navy aircraft carrier, and that’s where the Navy problems start.

The Ford was envisioned as a revolutionary leap forward with technological advancements undreamed of when its Nimitz-class predecessors were launched decades ago.

But the ship, the first in the Ford class of supercarriers, has been plagued with a series of mechanical problems that have pushed its price tag into the stratospheric $13 billion range. The Gerald R. Ford has been in the fleet for almost three years but has yet to deploy on a single mission.

The Ford, the first of three planned supercarriers, incorporates systems such as an advanced arresting gear and the electromagnetic launch system (EMALS), a replacement for the hydraulic catapults that have flung fighter jets off carrier decks for decades.

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WNU Editor: This is the third post in the past month that I have put up where details on the problems that the USS Gerald Ford is going through have been covered by the press. Here is an easy prediction. If these problems are not solved in the coming months, expect even more media coverage.

US Navy's Newest $13 Billion Supercarier Plagued By Numerous Mechanical Woes

Sailors on the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford during its commissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Julio Martinez Martinez

Washington Times: Not so Top Gun: Navy's newest $13 billion supercarrier plagued by mechanical woes

The USS Gerald R. Ford is a massive, gray-hulled city on the sea. Powered by two nuclear reactors, it is longer than three football fields and displaces 100,000 tons. When the air wing is attached, the Ford provides a base for dozens of jets and helicopters and more than 4,500 sailors.

But it was conceived as far more than just another Navy aircraft carrier, and that’s where the Navy problems start.

The Ford was envisioned as a revolutionary leap forward with technological advancements undreamed of when its Nimitz-class predecessors were launched decades ago.

But the ship, the first in the Ford class of supercarriers, has been plagued with a series of mechanical problems that have pushed its price tag into the stratospheric $13 billion range. The Gerald R. Ford has been in the fleet for almost three years but has yet to deploy on a single mission.

The Ford, the first of three planned supercarriers, incorporates systems such as an advanced arresting gear and the electromagnetic launch system (EMALS), a replacement for the hydraulic catapults that have flung fighter jets off carrier decks for decades.

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WNU Editor: I understand that the USS Gerald Ford is a new class of aircraft carrier. But after years of delay, cost overruns, and systems continuously malfunctioning and/or breaking down .... enough is enough.

The U.S. Needs A New And Different Type Of Aircraft Carrier

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Midway, with assigned Carrier Air Wing 5, entering Subic Bay, Philippines, 1981 (PHCS Steven Harris, USN/U.S. Defense Imagery Photo/VIRIN DN-ST-84-00324)

Jerry Hendrix, National Review: The Aircraft Carrier We Need

A strategic design update is due

On April 24 the U.S. Navy announced that a fifth weapons elevator had been certified for use onboard the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78). (A weapons elevator lifts munitions, such as bombs and missiles, from the storage area to the flight deck.) Six more elevators remain uncertified, requiring additional testing and modifications before the carrier can be deployed. Originally estimated to cost $10.5 billion to build, the ship was officially “delivered” to the Navy in May 2017, some 18 months behind schedule, at an eye-popping cost of $12.9 billion. However, even those cost numbers and dates are misleading, as the ship still does not have all of its essential systems certified, owing to major difficulties with its ship-service turbine generators, electromagnetic aircraft-launch systems, advanced arresting gear (the apparatus that slows down aircraft as they land on deck), and finally its weapons elevators. The upshot of all of these difficulties is that the Navy has been forced to use dollars from its crucial operations-and-maintenance accounts to “repair” a brand-new ship, for which it had already paid $13 billion, that has yet to deploy operationally, despite having officially been in the fleet for nearly three years.

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WNU Editor: A sobering essay.

US Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Was Unable To Launch Jets For Five Days After Its Electromagnetic Catapult Failed (Update)

An F/A-18F Super Hornet attached to the "Black Lions" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213 launches off USS Gerald R. Ford's (CVN 78) flight deck during flight operations June 7, 2020. (U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan Seelbach)

We Are The Mighty: Navy carrier Ford's high-tech EMALS Catapult System breaks during sea trials

Flight operations on the Navy's newest aircraft carrier were cut back during recent at-sea trials after the new high-tech system that launches aircraft from the flattop's flight deck went down.

The aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford's Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, known as EMALS, broke June 2 during the ship's biggest carrier air wing embark to date. The Ford's leaders had just announced the carrier was underway when EMALS went down.

There were about 1,000 members of Carrier Air Wing 8 aboard the ship as the Ford ran post-delivery test and trials operations in the Atlantic. In a call with reporters the day before the EMALS went down, Capt. J.J. Cummings, the ship's commanding officer, called the air wing embark a historic moment for the Ford.

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More News On The US Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Being Unable To Launch Jets For Five Days After Its Electromagnetic Catapult Failed

Navy Carrier Ford's High-Tech EMALS Catapult System Breaks During Sea Trials -- Military.com
US Navy’s new supercarrier unable to launch jets for days after electromagnetic catapult fails -- Bloomberg
A power problem aboard the Navy's $13 billion supercarrier left it unable to launch planes for days -- Business Insider
Photos: Electromagnetic Catapults Break on US Navy’s New Ford-Class Carrier During ‘Historic’ Trials -- Sputnik

USS Gerald Ford Aircraft Carrier Is Getting Close To Combat Ready

USS Gerald R. Ford’s (CVN-78) flight deck May 30, 2020. US Navy Photo

National Interest: The U.S. Navy's New USS Gerald Ford Aircraft Carrier Is Getting Close to Combat Ready

The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) recently completed the tests to prove that the latest aircraft carrier to enter service can launch and recover jets. Now the U.S. Navy has announced that it has the largest air wing embark to date. In addition, the Ford completed its first ordnance movement from a lower deck magazine to the carrier’s F/A-18E Super Hornets using the ship’s state-of-the-art Advanced Weapons Elevators

In a teleconference, the Commanding Officer of the carrier, Captain J.J. Cummings and Commander, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, Captain Josh Sager, explained that the CVW-8 embarked seven squadrons and is operating nearly 30 fixed-wing aircraft and both of their Helicopter Sea Combat squadrons. This serves as an opportunity to stress and test the carrier’s unique design, and to demonstrate further her ability to conduct integrated air wing operations.

“This is a historic underway—we embarked nearly 1,000 Sailors, the largest air wing embark to date, and we were able to commence cyclic operations and it’s proven successful,” said Cummings. “It’s exciting to have the air wing onboard and get into their spaces and berthings so they can help us tighten things up to where they want them to be.”

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WNU Editor: We are still far away from the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier being combat ready. But it is getting there.

More News On The USS Gerald Ford Aircraft Carrier

Loaded with aircraft, carrier USS Gerald R. Ford begins ordnance operations -- UPI
For the first time complete Carrier Air Wing on board USS Gerald R. Ford CVN-78 aircraft carrier -- Navy Recognition
USS Ford Takes a Key Step Towards Functionality -- Maritime Executive
USS Gerald Ford Done Proving It Can Launch Planes, Ready to Tackle Warfighting Operations -- USNI

100 Members Of A Fighter Squadron Taken Off USS Gerald Ford After Sailor Tests Positive For Coronavirus

The Fighting Blacklions flies F/A-18F Super Hornets (pictured) and is based out of Virginia's Naval Air Station Oceana. They were on the USS Ford doing carrier pilot qualifications

Daily Mail: More than 100 members of a fighter jet squadron are taken off USS Gerald R. Ford as 'precautionary measure' the same day a sailor tests positive for coronavirus

* The sailor is a member of Strike Fighter Squadron 213, the 'Fighting Blacklions'
* The sailor tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday after being in isolation since the previous week
* More than 100 members of the sailor's squadron boarded the USS Ford Tuesday
* They were medically screened and none had displayed flu-like symptoms then
* They were taken off the carrier Wednesday as a precautionary measure
* The sailor had not been aboard the ship but had contact with the squadron

About 100 members of a fighter jet squadron were forced to leave the USS Gerald R. Ford after one of its members tested positive for coronavirus, US Navy officials said.

The sailor tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, the day before the aircraft carrier departed from Virginia's Naval Station Norfolk, a Navy spokesperson told Stars & Stripes.

The sailor, who has not been named, is a member of the Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213 - the 'Fighting Blacklions' - which flies F/A-18F Super Hornets and is based out of Virginia's Naval Air Station Oceana.

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More News On 100 Members Of A Fighter Squadron Taken Off The USS Gerald Ford After Sailor Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Navy fighter squadron pulled off USS Gerald R. Ford after sailor tests positive for COVID-19 -- Task & Purpose/Virginia Pilot
Fighter squadron taken off USS Gerald Ford after sailor tests positive for coronavirus -- NYPost
Fighter squadron is pulled from USS Gerald R. Ford after sailor tests positive for coronavirus -- Stars and Stripes
Squadron Removed from Gerald R. Ford Due to COVID-19 Scare -- Maritime Executive

A Virtual Tour Of The Aircraft Carrier USS Ford

Second Line Of Defense: Visiting the USS Ford: May 2020

Actually, we are visiting the USS Ford virtually these days.

The US navy is starting a series which will highlight the ship and its features,

The first of the videos in this series was released on May 15, 2020.

As we build out our Kill Web and Deterrence series, we will examine how to rethink the role of the large deck carrier in the extended battlespace.

But for now, we would like to return to our first interview which focused on the USS Ford, which we did with the then head of N-98, Rear Admiral Moran.

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WNU Editor: Years behind and over budget, the US Navy needs to have a positive spin on this aircraft carrier.

Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Says Sailors Aboard First-In-Class Aircraft Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Have Not But Praise For The Ship

A tugboat directs the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford as it leaves the pier in Newport News, Virginia, October 25, 2019. US Navy/Mass Comm Specialist Seaman Cory J. Daut

Business Insider: US Navy's top official says its new, first-in-class carrier is improving and sailors don't want to get off

* The new, first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is decked out with new technology, but work on the ship has been waylaid by cost overruns and delays.
* Those issues have been a sore spot between lawmakers, the Navy, and the shipbuilder, but the last six months have seen marked progress, according to the service's top civilian official.

The US Navy's newest carrier, the first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford, finished 2019 as the subject of a war of words between Congress, the Navy's top civilian official, and the shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls Industries.

In October, after criticism from lawmakers over the new carrier, then-Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said confidence in the company's senior leadership was "very, very low" and that it had "no idea" what it was doing.

The Ford has a suite of new technology, and its development has been plagued by cost overruns and delays — its delivery to the Navy in May 2017 was two years late — though work on it is progressing.

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WNU Editor:No mention about the plumbing problem .... It Costs $400,000 For Each 'Flush' To Clear The Plumbing Systems On America's Newest Aircraft Carriers (March 25, 2020).

U.S. Navy Is Preparing Its New Ford Carriers For Massive Ocean Warfare

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) raises the American flag on it's mast as the ship get underway, Feb. 3, 2020 - file photo. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Zack Guth)

FOX News/Warrior Maven: Navy preps its new USS Ford carrier for massive ocean warfare

Navy weapons developers say the service’s emerging Ford-class carriers are engineered for the purpose of enabling a much higher volume of high-speed, overwhelming air attacks in rapid succession, as compared to today’s Nimitz-class carriers … all due to new technologies and the design configuration of the platforms.

The Ford carriers, now on the cusp of entering operational service, are built with larger deck space to enable a higher sortie rate for attack missions. In addition, there are other technologies built into the Ford-class that create the opportunity to quickly rearm and refuel fighters, rapidly sending them back into the air for further attack missions, Capt. Ron Rutan, CVN 78 (USS Ford) Program Manager, said in January at the 32nd annual Surface Navy Association symposium, Arlington, Va.

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WNU Editor: There are still a lot of problems with this aircraft carrier .... The U.S. Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Can’t Deploy (October 25, 2019).

USS Gerald R. Ford conducts a replenishment-at-sea with the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Leroy Grumman, February 8, 2020. US Navy/MCS 2nd Class Ruben Reed

Petty Officer 2nd Class Ruben Reed, Business Insider/US Navy: How the Navy pumps 1.3 million gallons of fuel into an aircraft carrier without ever pulling into port

* This month, for the first time in two years, the Navy's new aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, received fuel during a replenishment at sea.
* Replenishment at sea is one of the most dangerous operations sailors can perform, and its what keeps the carrier operating without having to return to port.

ATLANTIC OCEAN — USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) conducted a successful replenishment-at-sea (RAS) February 8 marking the ship's first time receiving fuel from a replenishment ship in more than 24 months.

Ford successfully received more than 1.3 million gallons of fuel, and exercised a solid cargo station, transferring 22 pallets for training from the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Leroy Grumman (T-AO 195), in less than three hours.

The RAS started off with Ford pulling alongside Grumman. A few moments later, a line was shot from Ford to Grumman to establish communications and connect to the fuel lines. Once completed, the fuel lines were pulled to Ford to begin the fueling process.

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WNU Editor: Transferring 1.3 million gallons of fuel and 22 pallets of supply in less than 3 hours. Now that is fast.

Ford Aircraft Carriers Not Ready For F-35s

An F-35C takes off from the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2018 during training.

Breaking Defense: Ford Aircraft Carriers Not Ready For F-35s, So Aging Vinson Gets The Call

The long road the F-35 took to finally being ready to deploy has forced the Navy's new $13 billion carrier class to leave the plane behind -- for now at least.

WASHINGTON: The Navy is upgrading one of its oldest aircraft carriers to be the first to fly the service’s newest plane, the F-35C, giving it a capability the service’s brand-new $13 billion carrier, the delayed and trouble-prone USS Gerald R. Ford, won’t have for years once it deploys.

Navy officials say the Ford and its follow-on carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy, are not being built to carry F-35s, and will have to undergo upgrades years after they’ve deployed. The plan is in keeping with a complicated maintenance and upgrade schedule the service has devised to marry ships with the Joint Strike Fighter as both become available.

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WNU Editor: The Ford carriers have a lot of problems .... The U.S. Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Can’t Deploy (October 5, 2019).

Here Is A Photo-Gallery Of the USS Gerald Ford Doing High-Speed Turns In The Ocean

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)

Warzone/The Drive: Check Out These Shots Of America's New Supercarrier Ripping Through High-Speed Turns

The USS Gerald R. Ford is a mess developmentally, but it is one wicked-looking ship in a Star Wars Imperial Cruiser kind of way.

The Ford class supercarrier program has been a massive boondoggle, which I have been reporting on it at great length for years, and the problems it is experiencing were so avoidable one can't help but cringe. Putting those issues aside, or the fact that a single ship costs $13B—it's the most expensive warship ever made, in fact, it's the most expensive weapon ever made—it is pretty damn cool looking. These photos, which show the 1,106-foot long nuclear-powered ship executing some impressive high speed turns and heading out on sea trials following a long servicing period, are the best I have seen of her yet.

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WNU Editor: She can definitely do high-speed turns in the ocean.

The U.S. Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Can’t Deploy

National Interest: The $13-Billion ‘Barge’? The U.S. Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Can’t Deploy

The U.S. Navy’s new aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford might not be able to deploy until 2024. That’s years later than the Navy originally expected. The delay could further inhibit the ability of the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet to deploy carriers.

The nuclear-powered Ford, which cost no less than $13 billion to build, has been undergoing trials off the U.S. east coast since commissioning in 2017.

The Ford class, in theory, represents a major improvement over the previous Nimitz-class supercarriers. The Navy so has ordered four Fords. Lead vessel Ford was supposed to deploy for the first time in 2022.

The Fords are bigger than the Nimitzs are, boast superior sensors and a more efficient deck layout and feature precise electromagnetic catapults rather than the maintenance-intensive steam catapults that the Nimitzs have.

Sea trials have underlined a host of problems with the thousand-feet-long Ford that have compelled the Navy repeatedly to delay the ship’s first operational deployment. The Navy’s decision to conduct explosive shock trials of the new flattop before deploying her also has contributed to the delays.

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WNU Editor: What is even more troubling is that US Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer is quoted as saying that the ship builder Huntington Ingalls Industries has "no idea" what they're doing .... The Story Behind the Navy Secretary's 'Fire Me' Deal with Trump (Military Times).

Who Should Be Held Accountable For The Most Expensive Warship In The World Being 'Broken'?

Tug boats maneuver Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), into the James River during the ship’s Turn Ship evolution on June 11, 2016. US Navy photo.

Forbes: The Most Expensive Ship In The World Is Broken. The U.S. Navy Secretary Should Be Held Accountable.

Later this month, tugs will pull the most expensive ship ever built in the world, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), away from the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Virginia. But America’s brand-new, $13 billion aircraft carrier will emerge from a 15-month refit, or “post-shakedown availability,” broken and unable to fight. This is unacceptable, and it is high time for the Secretary of the Navy, Richard V. Spencer, to hold his service accountable.

But he can’t.

At the USS Ford, the extent of America’s massive systems engineering failure is impossible to understate. The aircraft carrier does not work. As of October 9, only two of eleven advanced weapons elevators actually function, making it impossible for the carrier to safely receive and store weapons. Compounding the problem, the Secretary of the Navy made a high-profile bet with President Donald J. Trump, that, if the USS Ford left the shipyard without functional elevators, the President could fire him.

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WNU editor: Government officials being held accountable for mistakes and incompetence within their departments is (unfortunately) a principle no longer practised by government.

The U.S. Navy Can't Get Munitions Onto The Deck Of Its Newest Aircraft Carrier

Sailors on the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford during its commissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Julio Martinez Martinez

CNN: U.S. Navy's new $13B aircraft carrier can't fight

(CNN)The $13-billion USS Gerald R. Ford is already two years behind schedule, and the U.S. Navy's newest aircraft carrier is facing more delays after the Pentagon's top weapons tester concluded the ship is still not ready for combat despite expectations it would be delivered to the fleet this September.

According to a June 28 memo obtained by CNN, Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department's director of operational test and evaluation, said the most expensive warship in history continues to struggle launching and recovering aircraft, moving onboard munitions, conducting air traffic control and with ship self-defense.

"These four systems affect major areas of flight operations," Gilmore wrote in his report to Pentagon and Navy weapons buyers Frank Kendall and Sean Stackley. "Unless these issues are resolved ... they will significantly limit CVN-78's ability to conduct combat operations."

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Update #1: On Costliest U.S. Warship Ever, Navy Can’t Get Munitions on Deck (Bloomberg)
Update #2: Navy’s $13 Billion Carrier Can’t Move Munitions to Its Deck (Fiscal Times)

WNU Editor: The US Navy's newest destroyer cannot fire its guns .... The destroyer Zumwalt's big guns don't have any ammo, and the Navy may ditch them entirely because they don't even work right (Business Insider). The Littoral Combat Ship program cannot deploy ships .... How the Navy Blew $30 Billion on 10 ‘Cheap’ Ships (Daily Beast). And now the Navy's newest carrier cannot even get munitions onto the deck of its newest aircraft carrier. For a department that spends over $200 billion a year, someone has some explaining to do.

More Repairs On America's Newest Aircraft Carrier Pushes Its Delivery Date Into October

Sailors on the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford during its commissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Julio Martinez Martinez

USNI News: USS Gerald Ford Delivery Delayed Due to Extensive Nuclear Propulsion, Weapons Elevator Repairs; Carrier Won’t be Ready Until October

CAPITOL HILL – Unforeseen problems in repairing USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) will push delivery of the carrier back to the fleet by three months, into October, Navy officials told a House Armed Services Committee panel on Tuesday.

The initial 12-month post-shakedown availability (PSA) was designed to fix any problems that arose during the carrier’s first at-sea period, when the crew works the ship hard to help identify any problems in construction, as well as to tackle any work that the Navy and shipbuilder agreed to bump from the construction period to PSA. The carrier had planned to conduct a one-year PSA, then work up with its crew and deploy in 2021.

The new delay is due to more time needed to repair Ford’s nuclear propulsion system and Advanced Weapons Elevators, Navy acquisition chief James Geurts told the HASC’s seapower and projection forces subcommittee.

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Update #1: U.S. Navy's Troubled New Aircraft Carrier Delayed Again As Propulsion Issues Arise (Warzone)
Update #2: Why the carrier Ford is delayed again (Mark D. Faram, Navy Times)

WNU Editor: I understand that this is the first carrier of its class, but these repairs and problems are certainly adding to the costs as well as raising questions on the rational for keeping a fleet of aircraft carriers.