nhboy
Ubi bene ibi patria
Link to original article.
" The Navy’s next-generation aircraft carrier is mired in a pattern of inadequate testing, developmental delays and cost overruns that may hinder its effectiveness when it joins the fleet, the Government Accountability Office says in a scathing report.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, which is still under construction, is now expected to cost $12.8 billion — a $1.3 billion increase since 2011, according to the report, released Thursday.
The higher cost comes as the Navy searches for ways to make a congressionally mandated $14 billion cut in the upcoming fiscal year as a result of the automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration.
An earlier GAO draft report recommended that the Navy delay the ship’s planned commissioning, following delivery in 2016. It withdrew the recommendation because of the Navy’s arguments on how a non-commissioned ship would fit into the service’s chain of command.
However, the GAO still found faults.
“Key ship systems face reliability shortfalls that the Navy does not expect to resolve until many years after [Ford] commissioning, which will limit the ship’s mission effectiveness during initial deployments and likely increase costs to the government,” the report stated. "
" The Navy’s next-generation aircraft carrier is mired in a pattern of inadequate testing, developmental delays and cost overruns that may hinder its effectiveness when it joins the fleet, the Government Accountability Office says in a scathing report.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, which is still under construction, is now expected to cost $12.8 billion — a $1.3 billion increase since 2011, according to the report, released Thursday.
The higher cost comes as the Navy searches for ways to make a congressionally mandated $14 billion cut in the upcoming fiscal year as a result of the automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration.
An earlier GAO draft report recommended that the Navy delay the ship’s planned commissioning, following delivery in 2016. It withdrew the recommendation because of the Navy’s arguments on how a non-commissioned ship would fit into the service’s chain of command.
However, the GAO still found faults.
“Key ship systems face reliability shortfalls that the Navy does not expect to resolve until many years after [Ford] commissioning, which will limit the ship’s mission effectiveness during initial deployments and likely increase costs to the government,” the report stated. "
