This post is part of a series of review stories looking back at the top naval news from 2019.
2019 started with a surprise in the Navy budget request: the service needed to buy and test unmanned surface vehicles immediately to reach its ultimate goals for the surface force, and it was willing to sacrifice almost anything – including sidelining an aircraft carrier – to free up the funds to do so. Read More
An MH-60S Knight Hawk helicopter assigned to the Dragonslayers of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 11 flies by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) on Oct. 27, 2019. US Navy Photo
ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS GERALD R. FORD – The Navy’s newest aircraft carrier left a pier from Naval Station Norfolk, Va., late last month with its reputation arguably at an all-time low. Read More
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) displays ‘up and over’ flags in observance of Independence Day in 2017. US Navy Photo
CAPITOL HILL — USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) may not be ready to deploy until 2024, further complicating the Navy’s persistent problems of generating deployable carriers from the East Coast. Read More
Sailors go over safety procedures for the Upper Stage 1 advanced weapons aboard USS Gearld R. Ford (CVN-78). US Navy Photo
This post has been updated with additional information from the Navy.
Later this month, USS Gerald Ford (CVN-78) will depart Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding, cross the James River and report pier-side to Naval Station Norfolk, Va. The carrier will then begin preparation for an anticipated deployment in 2021. Read More
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – The T-45C Goshawk began Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) performance testing at the Runway Arrested Landing Site (RALS) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, Aug. 13.
This post was updated to say the 60 Goshawk arrested landings at the Runway Arrested Landing Site (RALS) occurred in April. An earlier version included the wrong month.
The Navy and Marine Corps will soon be able to train their newest pilots aboard the newest aircraft carrier, as Naval Air Systems Command makes progress integrating the T-45C Goshawk trainer with the Ford-class carrier arresting system.
Newport News Shipbuilding floods Dry Dock 12 to float the first-in-class aircraft carrier, Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) on Oct. 11, 2013. Navy photo
Only one of the Navy’s 18 dry docks used for maintaining the nuclear-powered carrier fleet can support a Ford-class carrier, Navy officials told USNI News.
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
This post has been updated to include additional information from the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
CAPITOL HILL – Vice Adm. Michael Gilday promised the Senate Armed Services Committee that, if he were confirmed to serve as the next chief of naval operations, he would be transparent about ongoing challenges with the first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and ensure that other new programs like the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine avoid the same pitfalls. Read More
An F-35C Lightning II assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101 is positioned on the bow catapults of the Nimitz-Class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) March 17, 2018, in the Atlantic Ocean. US Navy photo
This post has been updated with additional information from the Navy. The service has one aircraft carrier able to deploy with F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).
Currently, the Navy only has one aircraft carrier — either Ford-class or Nimitz-class — that can support the service’s most advanced fighters for a full deployment, service officials told USNI News on Thursday. Read More
The island of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) is landed onto the flight deck during a mast-stepping ceremony at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., May 29, 2019. Navy photo.
CAPITOL HILL – The Navy’s newest aircraft carriers are being delivered without the capability to deploy with the service’s most advanced fighters, a situation lawmakers call unacceptable. Read More
Sailors go over safety procedures for the Upper Stage 1 advanced weapons aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78). US Navy Photo
The Navy is building a ground-based test site for the weapons elevators currently going through a difficult installation and certification process on carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), though it won’t be ready in time to allay the problems on Ford. Read More
