Posted on 06/11/2020 11:45:40 AM PDT by RomanSoldier19
The EMALs system is working. Some, but not all, of the weapons elevator problems have been corrected. So I’d say the FORD is closer to full operational capability on the face today’s facts.
I’d like to see 11 carrier’s and associated support ships, subs, and airplanes.
I’m a fan of the 350 ship (or more) Navy.
That’s not just because I’m a sailor, but because the Navy is THE forward presence and local, if not immediate projection of US policy power abroad.
5 acres of floating democracy 30 miles offshore of a hostile actor nation/state? Yeah, that’ll change some thinking quite quickly.
As of a few weeks ago it was declared inoperable training ship FWIW
It is back for more millions in repairs which the Navy budget does not have. It will be many years, at best, before the problems can be fixed - if ever. This is not the ordinary teething problems many systems have. It is a number of major design flaws from the initial decision to build untested systems and fix them on the fly.
All the elevators have to work to make the ship functional and is now slower than Nimitz class - and that fix is not happening any time soon. The EMALS system ‘works’, but cannot do sustained operations. Personnel were very dispirited after retuning from the trial about this huge flaw.
There is no fix for the Spy radar (now abandoned), nor for the sewage system which has to be purged multiple times a day - bad plumbing design - only fix: rip and replace - doing that involves major structural alterations and possibly effects sea worthiness, not to mention many billions of dollars. And those are only a few of the problems.
Full functionality depends on if there actually is a fix, or do systems have to be ripped out, and also on the Navy budget - are there billions more to sink into it?
Would it be better to leave it and move on to the other four Ford Class ships and get it right? Which plan is more efficient, which costs less? With all the mil budget cuts coming, it would seem that there will be no more major build funds for the Ford. Hence, inoperable training ship which, incidentally, the Navy desperately needs.
On the bright side, the Zumwalt finally fired its 30mm guns. The ship will likely end up as a stand off missile platform, as it is not survivable in a combat situation.
Latest article I could find on the USS Gerald Ford seems to indicated that the elevators are operational, the ship has a full air wing. The "training ship" designation is not one that I'm familiar with unless you're extrapolating from statements made about crew activities while the ship was at sea working on systems test.
The Navy opened itself up for these kinds of problems by issuing contracts for design-while-build for the lead-ship. Similar thing was done for the F-35, which BTW is finally turning into the weapons system that was promised.
One of the things we have to be mindful of that "old information" never dies on the internet. It keeps getting parroted back.
I get my info from dedicated military sites written by people with connections in and out of the DOD and the various services, plus commentary from active and retired mil; you get yours from Yahoo and Navy puff pieces, and who knows if Peter Suciu knows an APC from a MBT.
As I keep pointing out its a budget matter for the Navy. They cannot continue to pour funds into fixing the unfixable after going billions of dollars over-budged already. The Navy has all but declared the once vaunted LCS ships scrappers; the DDG 1000 class is a dud and only 3 will be built. They do not have the funds to keep shoveling money down a rat hole.
The Navy is moving on to building 4 more Ford Class CVNs and a new class FFG(X) frigates.
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