USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) may not be ready to deploy until 2024. It once had a 2018 planned deployment date.
There is more testing (shock testing) and there are still technical issues.
The Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) carrier has cost over $13 billion.
CVN-78, CVN-79, CVN-80, and CVN-81 are the first four ships in the Navy’s new Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (CVNs).
The US has a carrier readiness problem.
There is a delay in deploying the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) due to emergent electrical problems. There is a two-plus-year maintenance period for USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). The long-extended availability of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) that left the carrier unable to relieve USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) in the Middle East and forced Truman into a double pump deployment.
There are only two yards in the U.S. that were capable of repairing the Navy’s domestic nuclear carriers and that the Navy’s Optimized Fleet Response Plan that was supposed to provide the Navy the ability to surge forces in case of emergency has been ineffective.
The US Navy will spend $21-billion, over a 20-year public shipyard optimization plan.
SOURCES- USNI, Congressional Budget Reports
Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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