U.S. Navy’s New $13B Warship Still Not Ready for Combat

[Geee]

Free Beacon:

The U.S. Navy’s newest $13 billion aircraft carrier is still not ready for combat because of mechanical delays that have already put it two years behind schedule, according to the Pentagon’s top weapons tester.

 

The USS Gerald R. Ford was supposed to be ready to fight by this September, but Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, said in a June 28 memo that the warship had ongoing launch and recovery problems, CNN reported Monday.

 

The Navy said the ship’s delivery to the fleet may be pushed to 2017 as the nuclear powered aircraft carrier “continues to struggle launching and recovering aircraft, moving onboard munitions, conducting air traffic control, and with ship self-defense.”

 

Gilmore said the four systems “affect major areas of flight operations” and would considerably restrict the warship’s ability to carry out combat operations.