Aircraft takeoff and landing systems on the USS Gerald R. Ford remain unreliable and break down too often more than three years after the $13.2 billion carrier was delivered, according to the Pentagon’s top tester.
The latest assessment of the costliest warship ever built “remains consistent” with previous years, director of testing Robert Behler said in his new summary of the program obtained by Bloomberg News before its release in an annual report.
“Poor or unknown reliability of new technology systems critical for flight operations,” including its $3.5 billion electromagnetic launch system and advanced arresting gear, could “adversely affect” the carrier’s ability to generate sorties, he said.
The Ford’s new systems — which propel planes off the deck and into the sky and then snag them on landing — are crucial to justifying the expense of what’s now a four-vessel, $57 billion program intended to replace the current Nimitz class of aircraft carriers.
The Ford class is also the backbone of the Navy’s aspirations to expand its fleet from 297 vessels today to 355 and then almost 500 by […]
While the Capitol is breached by trumpian hoards this gross corruption continues without much concern at all. I would argue that the national security state sucks up such a large percentage of national wealth and talent that it is more of a threat to our country than the QAnon shaman.
The frequent refrain that we can’t afford Medicare for all, cancel student debt, free education for all, criminal justice reform, child care for all and more is a lie. A lie that both parties have told for generations to feed the beast of national defense/war yet everyone is entranced by the current drama demanding justice depending on which team you’re on. The U.S. of A. has shown the world that we are not exceptional, except in our own minds. Empires have come and gone many seemed to have failed because of internal conflict, more self-destruction than external intervention.
Many are looking to Biden to restore America to her proper place in the world. I hope we will bring an end of this super power madness and the retirement of these huge weapon systems and wide ranging military engagements. A collapsing economy and ongoing covid relief could greatly aid in these “reforms”.