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Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer
This post has been updated to include additional statements from the Navy and from Sen. Jim Inhofe.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy Secretary has committed that the service and its industry partners will have working weapons elevators on aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) by the end of the summer – and the secretary’s job is now on the line over that issue. Read More
F/A-18F Pilot LCDR Jamie R. Struck the makes first carrier arrested landing using AAG system aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) off the Virginia coast. US Navy Photo
CAPITOL HILL – The Navy’s acquisition chief said the weapons elevators on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) will be built and installed by the time the ship comes out of its ongoing post-shakedown availability, but he may launch an independent review team to look at the long-term sustainability and reliability of the elevators. Read More
F/A-18F Pilot Lt. Cmdr. Jamie ‘Coach’ Struck makes the first carrier arrested landing using new AAG system aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) on July 28, 2017. US Navy Photo
ABOARD USS GERALD R. FORD — On Aug. 1, 2017, USNI News spoke with sailors who manned Ford’s next-generation Advanced Arresting Gear and Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) for the first trap and catapult from the $13 billion carrier’s flight deck. Read More
F/A-18F Pilot LCDR Jamie R. Struck the makes first carrier arrested landing using AAG system aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) off the Virginia coast. US Navy Photo
Six days after commissioning, the crew of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) launched and recovered their first aircraft from the carrier’s flight deck, according to a statement from the service. Read More
An artist’s concept of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS). General Atomics Image
The Navy completed testing on a software fix for its Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) that will allow the heaviest planes to take off with less stress to the airframe, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced this week. Read More
Sailors man the rails of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) during its commissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. Ford is the lead ship of the Ford-class aircraft carriers, and the first new U.S. aircraft carrier designed in 40 years. US Navy photo.
ABOARD USS GERALD R. FORD – Saturday’s commissioning of aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) was a celebration of the end of a long and at-times hard road to bring the warship and its many new technologies to the fleet – a path the Navy may not choose to take again. Read More
President Donald J. Trump tours Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78). Trump visited March 2 to meet with Sailors and shipbuilders of the Navy’s first-in-class aircraft carrier. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to include a comment from Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley.
President Donald Trump wants the new Gerald Ford-class aircraft carriers to use older steam catapults to launch aircraft rather than the new electromagnetic launch system that the Navy has been developing for more than a decade. Read More
F/A-18E Super Hornet lands with the Advanced Arresting Gear at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, in Lakehurst, New Jersey, on March 31, 2016. US Navy Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) test schedule for aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) was pushed back again, but the delay may cause little impact thanks to a slew of post-delivery test requirements for the first-in-class ship, the CVN-78 class program manager told USNI News. Read More
Dead load launched from Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) during EMALS testing. HII Photo
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Navy’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) encountered problems Tuesday morning prior to a round of testing in front of media, but Navy and industry officials say the problem is minor and part of the testing process. Read More
An E/A-18G Growler attached to the Wizards of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 133 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) on April 20, 2015. US Navy photo.
The new class of Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) aircraft carriers, with its software-driven Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) and Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), will put so much less stress on aircraft that Navy engineers will be able to think about future aircraft design in a whole new way, the Navy’s director of air warfare told reporters Monday. Read More
