The US Navy’s most expensive ship, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), has a power problem – its turbine generators exploded before the vessel left port for the first time.
Photo: Wikipedia / US Navy
The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the US Navy’s new flagship, worth $12.9 billion, could be obsolete before its maiden voyage, the Japan Times newspaper reported, citing the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer, Frank Kendall.
“With the benefit of hindsight, it was clearly premature to include so many unproven technologies [on the warship],” Kendall wrote in a memo.
According to new revelations, there is a possibility that the Ford even will not leave a port due to the power problems.
In June, an electrical explosion occurred in the second main turbine generator (MTG) of the vessel. According to US military officials, there was no fire, and the incident was enough to fling debris into the turbine. However, one month later, a similar explosion took place on the first main turbine generator.
As the Defense News informational website reported, citing Pentagon sources, the cause has been connected with faulty voltage regulators. The price of the repairs is expected to be at least $37 million.
The power problem became the last one in a series of failings that led to a delay in delivery of the USS Gerald R. Ford.
“The current estimated delivery date is in November 2016,” spokesman for the US Navy, Capt. Thurraya Kent, said in July. “If additional issues arise during the remaining shipboard testing, that date may need to be revised,” he added.
Earlier problems included the ship’s munitions movement, runway capabilities, and defense capabilities.
“Unless these issues are resolved, which would likely require redesigning, they will significantly limit the CVN-78’s ability to conduct combat operations,” Michael Gilmore, director of operational test and evaluation of the US Defense Department, wrote in a memo in July.
US lawmakers, including Arizona Senator John McCain, have been angered by the repeated delays.
“The advanced arresting gear cannot recover airplanes. Advanced weapons elevators cannot lift munitions. The dual-band radar cannot integrate two radar bands,” McCain said in a statement. “Even if everything goes according to the Navy’s plan, CVN-78 will be delivered with multiple systems unproven.”
What? What on earth are we going to do with all the brand-new F-35s that will be flying from the U.S.S. Gerald Ford? Oh, wait… no hurry, I guess. Take your time on the generator repairs, boys. We’re still ‘tweaking’ the F-35 code so the wings don’t fall off when they’re not suppose to. That’s important because we haven’t quite got the bugs worked out of the ejection seat, so it’s important to the pilots that the wings mostly stay attached.
Based on a DOD report about the Just Sucks Funds.
http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/weapons/2016/the-f-35-still-failing-to-impress.html?referrer=https://warisboring.com/the-f-35-stealth-fighter-may-never-be-ready-for-combat-5c1180d6e2b1
I can only wonder how much money was spent to bribe our politicians and Pentagon thieves to sign off on this junk.
Then do.
Sounds to me like the USS Gerald R. Ford came with it’s own suicide vest haha.
I guess they plan to ram that big hunk of junk into an Iranian speed boat or something.
Sounds about right. As all other US tech and tactics have failed the USSA miserably.
What was left for them to try but the tactic they taught to the ISIS. The self exploding tactic is the only one that has had some results thus far for the USSA’s-ISIS. So now they are employing this tactic with the US-Navy. Next they will employ this with the US F-35’s since they cannot shoot down sh*t anyway.
Then they will start turning the M1A2-Abrams into self exploding as well to fight the Yemenis off haha.
Okay for being a bully against third world nations but a nice big target for larger more sophisticated nations (assuming it ever works).
This is what happens under fascism aka corporatism once the corporations have bought off the so called representatives of the people. One reason Russia has not been able to be provoked by nato is that Russia sees that the us empire is falling apart on its own. A note on john mccain; he was wrongfully pardoned for his crimes against the us during the Vietnam war yet still poses as a “war hero”. He has also done what he could to block attempts to bring home those pow’s left behind due to the failure of the us to pay war reparations to Vietnam. Lastly, he managed to total five planes during his term as a pilot. That’s a record I think and qualifies him as an enemy ace vs the us lol.
MIght be You are falling apart. According to me its first time an american hangar has problems and they have 6 of them – somewhere 6 might be 8.
Leased equipment from general electric