Workers from the Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding unit who are embarked this month on aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) during at-sea flight tests are helping accelerate the timetable for work aboard the ship during its concurrent post-delivery trials, said Rear Admiral James Downey, US Navy (USN) programme executive officer for carriers.
“We’re getting more work during this period than planned,” Rear Adm Downey said on 22 January during a briefing aboard Ford as the ship conducted Aircraft Compatibility Testing (ACT) in the Atlantic Ocean off the US East Coast.
“We’re pulling some work to the left,” he said.
The US Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding are testing weapons elevators on carrier USS Gerald R. Ford as well as upgrades to launching, recovery, and propulsion systems. (Michael Fabey)
The ship is in the third month of its 18-month post-delivery trials, lasting from November 2019 through April 2021. During that time, the ship will be under way for about 220 days, conducting thousands of launches and recoveries.
As the ship conducted ACT, Rear Adm noted, about 200 Newport News Shipbuilding workers were on board Ford . “About two-thirds of them are working directly on the [Advanced Weapons] Elevators [AWEs].”
About two times that number, he said, will be on board the ship to work when it returns to shore and docks pierside.
He said the onboard Ford yard workforce has been working “seven days a week”, even during the recent holidays, to resolve elevator issues, as well as finish and test other systems.
The USN is also testing upgrades for Ford ’s propulsion plant, Advanced Arresting Gear and Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, Rear Adm Downey said.
Looking to read the full article?
Gain unlimited access to Janes news and more...
