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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: Lonesome in Massachussets
So, it is not S-band search and track, X-band fire control?

Carriers do not need fire control with no missiles, so what was the driver for the higher range resolution?

81 posted on 07/22/2016 12:10:46 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: doorgunner69

Essentially correct. If I only had one naval radar, I’d go with S-Band. The problem is that the DBR S-Band is a brick.

X-band has more resolution and assigned bandwidth. X-Band is better for short range surface warfare, and periscope search. Most commercial vessels have both an X-Band and S-Band, for build in redundancy, and using X-Band for navigating in harbor or in clear weather, and S-Band at sea and when it’s raining.


82 posted on 07/22/2016 1:29:06 PM 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: Lonesome in Massachussets

Surprised they could not leverage the AEGIS system with a maybe reduced capability/cost setup for a carrier’s needs.


83 posted on 07/22/2016 1:49:07 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: rlmorel
ping...
84 posted on 07/22/2016 2:54:06 PM PDT by Chode (You Owe Them Nothing - Not Respect, Not Loyalty, Not Obedience, NOTHING!)
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To: Slings and Arrows

It is my guess that they are introducing a lot of new technologies and new construction methods all at once, in this gargantuan ship...not normal, but...nothing surprises me any more.


85 posted on 07/22/2016 4:05:00 PM PDT by rlmorel (Orwell described Liberals when he wrote of those who "repudiate morality while laying claim to it.")
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To: cba123

>>New ship. Limit what you talk about just a bit.<<

rotflmao-—Do you know how many people in our government are Muslims?
The Brotherhood of Islam has infiltrated every square inch of our intelligence agencies, military services, law enforcement agencies, you name it and they are there.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3442290/posts


86 posted on 07/22/2016 4:13:36 PM PDT by B4Ranch ("The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.")
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To: sukhoi-30mki

My old man built ships at Ingals in Mississippi for 35 years before it was purchased by Nothrup Grumman.

He retired shortly after. Whew you should hear what he says about the quality of what us being built now. He freakin hates it!


87 posted on 07/22/2016 4:17:35 PM PDT by The Toll
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To: RipSawyer
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.

Weather prediction has improved many times over. CV's head to sea days before the Canes are predicted a possible to hit. I saw straight liners come across Hampton Roads that put nearly every ship out in the channel but us. NORVA is now berthing and home porting 5 CVN's which have numerous times been in port at the same time. It's time to re-open Mayport as a home port. I also was on my ship when an Alpine Express caught us off guard anchored off the coast of Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. We drug anchor and likely set a getting underway record LOL.

88 posted on 07/22/2016 4:41:21 PM PDT by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: Vinnie
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.

I wonder at what percentage drop in electrical power production loss the magnetic launches would fail at? I'm fairly certain even at 4 or 8 boilers steam launches are possible but likely slower in number per minute.

89 posted on 07/22/2016 4:47:31 PM PDT by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: riverdawg
KH and JFK. I worked on the JFK, doing final prep work for delivery to the Navy.

It's sad the way they ended up doing the JFK as far as keeping her ready. It wasn't the crews fault it was congress and Pentagon bean counters shorting her on funding. JFK was basically a modified KW. The America had one distinguishing feature no other carrier had before or since. She had a Sonar Dome.

90 posted on 07/22/2016 4:52:07 PM PDT by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: doorgunner69

Aegis is obsolete. Right band, wrong technology.


91 posted on 07/22/2016 4:52:23 PM 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: major_gaff
Especially when one of them constitutes part of your call name. ;~) God Bless the USS America and all who sailed upon her.

Tens of thousands had the privileged to ride on her. I think it's a bad logistics and readiness mistake to have all CVN's. The training requirements for conventionals allow for a quicker recovery crew training wise from mass causalities. You can take somone off the streets and in six months after Basic have a qualified watch stander on a boiler watch. One deployment and they have a lot of experience and knowledge under their belts. The Nuke recruit will be finishing up Nuke School maybe and will still require shipboard qualification for watches. Both ships have their advantages and disadvantages. Contrary to rumors nukes can not deploy indefinitely. They basically except for reactor refuel have the same downtime requirements for shipyard maintenance as a conventional.

92 posted on 07/22/2016 5:00:28 PM PDT by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: cva66snipe

A few years ago, I saw the JFK in Mayport as the Navy was preparing to mothball her. I thought at the time that it seemed odd she was going to retire before I was!


93 posted on 07/22/2016 5:13:32 PM PDT by riverdawg
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To: cva66snipe

You must have gone to Dubrovnik after we did back then aboard the Kennedy! We were the first big carrier there in 1977...fascinating place, beautiful women. Clean.

We had to go ashore in uniform (that ugly ass salt and pepper) and I scratched up my brand new corframs playing basketball with a bunch of Yugoslavian guys...

Found a teeny French restaurant with six tables and letcherous European postcards on the walls...:)


94 posted on 07/22/2016 6:04:00 PM PDT by rlmorel (Orwell described Liberals when he wrote of those who "repudiate morality while laying claim to it.")
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To: Recon Dad

I am an aviation enthusiast, and I have always wanted to see one fly.

In April, I was down on Okrakoke on the beach with bunch of friends, and I heard something behind me and turned to see an Osprey buzzing overhead at high speed at maybe 500-1000 feet.

What astonished me was how I didn’t even hear the thing until it was so close I couldn’t get my camera out of my pocket before it was overhead and passing.

If that had been any helicopter, I have no doubt you would have heard it coming for five minutes. You would have been able to spot exactly where you were going to visually pick it up.

Then, It banked and came around stopping, and vertically landing at the Okrakoke airport just up the street from Howard’s Pub. Then it took off, disappeared, and then reappeared repeating the landing at the airport five or ten more times!

I had an aviation woody! I know it must be old hat to you, but I would love to be near some military aviation.


95 posted on 07/22/2016 6:12:09 PM PDT by rlmorel (Orwell described Liberals when he wrote of those who "repudiate morality while laying claim to it.")
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To: castlegreyskull

They can take a lot of damage.

The USS Forrestal had nine 500 pound bombs detonate on her deck, not to mention the missiles and planes. Some of those 500 lb bombs had their explosive force dramatically enhanced because they were old WWII era bombs, and the explosives had decomposed creating a more volatile and unpredictable explosive.

A large carrier like that can be sunk. Any ship can. But those ships are huge, have a lot of compartments, and (at least used to) have some tenacious damage control parties with well designed tools and techniques.


96 posted on 07/22/2016 6:20:30 PM PDT by rlmorel (Orwell described Liberals when he wrote of those who "repudiate morality while laying claim to it.")
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To: rlmorel

How did you enjoy Ocracoke? April’s a little early, I’d imagine the crowds were sort of thin. In high season it’s tough to drive a car through town for all the pedestrians and cyclists. Howard’s Pub is hard to get into then, even the rooftop bar is full. The best beaches are out the old sand Beach Road, you need a 4WD to get to them. I always try to have breakfast at least once at Pony Island, usually the morning I’m headed back home.


97 posted on 07/22/2016 6:21:54 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry

I loved it...fourth time I went down there.

I know a bunch of families who rent a big house in Rodanthe, and boy, is that fun. Great place, nice shape, lots of room, big deck facing the sound, and you can see the Atlantic on the other side from the kitchen. Watch the sun rise and set over the ocean twice a day.

Great thunderstorms.

Not many people around then...drank some moonshine at night (the legal stuff, of course...:) great breakfasts in the morning. What could go wrong?


98 posted on 07/22/2016 6:27:37 PM PDT by rlmorel (Orwell described Liberals when he wrote of those who "repudiate morality while laying claim to it.")
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To: rlmorel

There’s some history around Rodanthe. Mirlo Beach. Pity what the last hurricane did there, the houses at Mirlo Beach were something to behold, inspired by the old life saving station and lighthouses, some were huge, several were whimsical. Most fallen into the Atlantic now.

Nearby Waves is fun, too, with the big watersports outdoor center, all the parasailing, kiteboarding, always a lot of interesting, colorful airborne contraptions with people suspended beneath, lol.

That’s about as far north as I go, beyond Waves, Salvo and Rodanthe the ocean temps drop off fairly dramatically.


99 posted on 07/22/2016 6:32:32 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry
I love it. Great country you guys got down there. It was windy, which was great, I love that. Of course, I might think otherwise sitting on my butt in a tornado, but...I like what I like!
100 posted on 07/22/2016 6:38:13 PM PDT by rlmorel (Orwell described Liberals when he wrote of those who "repudiate morality while laying claim to it.")
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