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US Navy's newest $12.9bn supercarrier doesn't work
DAILYMAIL.COM ^ | July 21, 2016 | LIAM QUINN

Posted on 07/22/2016 12:29:41 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki

The most expensive warship ever built has been delayed from hitting the front line because it is reportedly not ready for battle.

The $12.9 billion USS Gerald R. Ford Navy supercarrier - the first of three in its class with a total cost of $43 billion - could potentially struggle with planes landing and taking off, moving military weapons and being able to successfully defend itself, a memo obtained by Bloomberg News reads.

The memo allegedly states 'poor or unknown reliability issues' were identified in a letter dated June 28.

'These four systems affect major areas of flight operations,' Defense Department Director of Operational Test and Evaluation Michael Gilmore wrote to Pentagon and Navy weapons buyers, according to Bloomberg News.

'Unless these issues are resolved, which would likely require redesigning, they will significantly limit the CVN-78’s ability to conduct combat operations.

'Based on current reliability estimates, the CVN-78 is unlikely to conduct high-intensity flight operations at the outset of a war.'

It comes after Senator John McCain slammed an announcement earlier this month that stated the ship will not be rolled out until at least November this year - more than two years after its original intended date of September 2014.

The Navy’s announcement of another two-month delay in the delivery of CVN-78 further demonstrates that key systems still have not demonstrated expected performance,' McCain said in a statement.

'The advanced arresting gear (AAG) cannot recover airplanes. Advanced weapons elevators cannot lift munitions. The dual-band radar cannot integrate two radar bands. Even if everything goes according to the Navy’s plan, CVN-78 will be delivered with multiple systems unproven.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3701727/Navy-s-12-9-billion-USS-Gerald-R-Ford-delayed-dogged-reliability-issues.html#ixzz4F7X0eWdF Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bhodod; cvn78; miltech; navair; navy; shipbuilding; usn; usnavy; ussgeraldford; ussgeraldrford
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To: sukhoi-30mki
The dual-band radar cannot integrate two radar bands.

I know I guy who worked on dual band radar. It's basically two radars, an x-band and s-band radar, that are supposed to work together. X-band ( 10,000 MHz) is better at some things, S-Band (3,000 MHz) at others. There were two contractors, one working on S-Band, the other on X-Band and integration. He worked on X-Band. He thought the S-Band delivered by the other contractor was a brick. In any case, the Navy has said it will discontinue Dual Band Radar (not necessarily abandon the concept of two radars, the product DBR) after the CVN-78. It's a one-off.

21 posted on 07/22/2016 4:09:29 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (I'm not a smug know-it-all; I just want you to experience epistemological closure.)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

The short answer: Engineering is easy. System integration and tuning, not so much. Nobody does “systemology” like we do, but it takes time.

What works in the controlled conditions of a laboratory, almost ALWAYS shows glitches in an operational environment.

A more accurate headline is “Carrier doesn’t work quite to spec. . . yet. This is normal for new technology. . .”


22 posted on 07/22/2016 4:16:33 AM PDT by Salgak (You're in Strange Hands with Tom Stranger. . . .)
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To: cva66snipe

“Home port one or both in Mayport, Florida.”

Ah, yes, Mayport, where I reported to the USS Saratoga in 1964 with Hurricane Dora roaring in. Nearly got wiped off the Earth by a rogue wave while retrieving sandbags that had been knocked down by waves. Amazingly I am still strong enough to lift sandbags now. Probably not for as long though.


23 posted on 07/22/2016 4:16:38 AM PDT by RipSawyer (Racism is racism, regardless of the race of the racist.)
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To: cva66snipe
Especially when one of them constitutes part of your call name. ;~)
God Bless the USS America and all who sailed upon her.
24 posted on 07/22/2016 4:22:33 AM PDT by major_gaff (University of Parris Island, Class of '84)
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To: sukhoi-30mki
So the Solendra power plant aint whut they sold it as.

Looks like the ID Thief in Chief took US to the cleaners yet again.

25 posted on 07/22/2016 4:29:12 AM PDT by rawcatslyentist (And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,)
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To: Gen.Blather

I have some inside knowledge in the FCS project. It is amazingly screwed up. So screwed up that the Halo video games have surpassed it in capability and function.


26 posted on 07/22/2016 4:29:15 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Carriers are out of date. If we fight an enemy that was worth a shit, they would sink them in the opening hours of a war.


27 posted on 07/22/2016 4:44:45 AM PDT by castlegreyskull
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To: SubMareener

I think the most screwed up procurement program was the “Comanche.”


28 posted on 07/22/2016 4:46:39 AM PDT by castlegreyskull
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To: mad_as_he$$

FCS could have benefited from a good GAO audit. Instead, GAO worked with the integrator of integrators to cover up the problems.


29 posted on 07/22/2016 4:47:41 AM PDT by Gen.Blather (`)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Just a humble engineer having worked R&D for 25 years and my opinion. If you only knew the issues, risks and flat out “broken” problems that plagued the semi-conductor industry; you would be surprised and amazed that we ever got a 32 bit machine to market, forget the 64 bit, 3.2 GHz chips we have today.

No first article EVER works as designed. It’s like winning a lottery on your first try. I have built countless prototypes, and no number of reviews or simulations has ever given me a 100% production ready unit. Some are good, but nothing works perfectly out the door.

These guys are doing something that has NEVER been done before. Something huge, something that thousands of lives will depend upon. The first one will be expensive, they ALWAYS are. The second one will be exponentially cheaper, and better, and faster.

It’s the nature of the beast


30 posted on 07/22/2016 4:55:54 AM PDT by Hodar (A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.- Burroughs)
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To: cva66snipe

Did I see Evel Knievel in one of those carriages ? :^)

A few of those catapult shots looked puny. Would love to see an equivalent steam shot. Bet it’s way better.

Basically this new catapult is a glorified rail gun isn’t it?
To produce the magnetic field to accelerate a multi ton plane to flying speed must take enormous electrical reserves.


31 posted on 07/22/2016 5:13:19 AM PDT by Vinnie
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Hey, who’s that lady with Chevy Chase?


32 posted on 07/22/2016 5:25:36 AM PDT by Psalm 73 ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
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To: cva66snipe

KH and JFK. I worked on the JFK, doing final prep work for delivery to the Navy.


33 posted on 07/22/2016 5:47:28 AM PDT by riverdawg
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To: sukhoi-30mki

As someone admittedly unfamiliar with naval operations, I read this and couldn’t understand it. I mean, they’ve been building aircraft carriers since... forever.

Would someone with some experience and/or knowledge fill us in on what happened and why they’re saying this?


34 posted on 07/22/2016 5:55:58 AM PDT by Jack Hammer
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To: castlegreyskull
Carriers are out of date. If we fight an enemy that was worth a shit, they would sink them in the opening hours of a war.

When genius arm chair admirals tell us a new way to project power and maintain air superiority over vast swaths of ocean without an aircraft carrier then I will listen to inane comments like yours.

35 posted on 07/22/2016 6:06:12 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Jack Hammer

Since it is not a $14B social program its glitches make headline news.


36 posted on 07/22/2016 6:07:29 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Gen.Blather
American military procurement, just like our space program, has become a government jobs and campaign financing machine.

If the hardware works right the first time out, this is a failure, because there's no money flow needed for do-overs.

37 posted on 07/22/2016 6:07:46 AM PDT by Eric Pode of Croydon
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To: Hodar

“No first article EVER works as designed. It’s like winning a lottery on your first try.”.....

As ex Navy, this is exactly why we called them “shake down cruises”, the purpose being to test the ships abilities and also the crews. Would ANYONE in their right mind send a $12.9 million dollar ship into a major conflict? That would be like entering a prize fight without even a bit of training, a guaranteed loss! Find out where the flaws are and fix them.


38 posted on 07/22/2016 6:11:33 AM PDT by DaveA37
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To: castlegreyskull
Carriers are out of date. If we fight an enemy that was worth a shit, they would sink them in the opening hours of a war.

Yes, I'm afraid the Mabus Navy is headed for another Billy Mitchell Moment - in real life, this time.

39 posted on 07/22/2016 6:15:30 AM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ([CTRL]-[GALT]-[DELETE])
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To: Slings and Arrows

Yes.

A new class of ship with technology that is a rapid departure from anything used before.

Problems aplenty to be had, yet not one that can’t be solved. It will take some time, which means money.

As to the delays... DDDDDDUUUUUHHHHH! Whiners and Politicians, but I’m being redundant, will always scream.

Invention is HARD! Invention is EXPENSIVE! Invention never meets SCHEDULE!


40 posted on 07/22/2016 6:17:34 AM PDT by Freeport (The proper application of high explosives will remove all obstacles.)
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