USS Gerald R Ford may not deploy until 2024

[stgislander]

Wow. I realize the new carrier is a complex "system" and expect a lot of bugs, but it's not even 2020 yet.

The $13-Billion ‘Barge’? The U.S. Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Can’t Deploy

The U.S. Navy’s new aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford might not be able to deploy until 2024. That’s years later than the Navy originally expected. The delay could further inhibit the ability of the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet to deploy carriers.

nationalinterest.org

 

[Yooper]

Is that 2024 for an actual deployment? I'm betting the Ford will be lucky to have finished sea trials and shake-downs by then.

What a mess; the decision to implement so many new technologies in the first ship of class (as opposed to gradual, phased implementation) is really coming back to haunt the decision makers.

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[Grumpy]

Is that 2024 for an actual deployment? I'm betting the Ford will be lucky to have finished sea trials and shake-downs by then.

What a mess; the decision to implement so many new technologies in the first ship of class (as opposed to gradual, phased implementation) is really coming back to haunt the decision makers.

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Thats in line with the attitude of today...I want it NOW

 

[Yooper]

Thats in line with the attitude of today...I want it NOW

Certainly seems like the builders/project manager team wanted to make a splash.

I can't help but wonder though if part of the decision had to do with fiscal challenges regarding retrofitting later features to earlier ships of the class.

Not my wheelhouse, these Navy things. SO am curious to monitor the progress.

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[Gilligan]

I was workin on a project with some of the members of the EMALS development team. That was 12 years ago and they were under huge stress and pressure at the time due to repeated technical failures and delays.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Problem is this crap sounds great on a power point.

The Pentagon's 'Concurrency Myth' Is Now Available In Supercarrier Size

Concurrency isn’t coming. It’s already here. And what was once an incredibly naive high-hopes buzzword and procurement concept has now become a slur in many defense crowds. Now, after nearly downing the F-35, and causing chaos in many other defense programs, it’s trying to sink America’s newest...

foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com

 

[b23hqb]

So, who will REALLY be considered true plank owners? By the time it gets approved and deployed to the fleet, they will be on the third crew going on the fourth......this is what happens when the bureaucrats are in charge.

 

[Monello]

I'm sure the managers made unrealistic promises and disregarded the opinions of the people doing the actual work.

You can either have it fast or have it right. But you can't have both.

I worked on a software project that management promised in 6-8 months time frame before the customer would get it. 2 plus year later we finally went live. 80% of it was done correctly in the 8 month time frame. It was coding for all the exceptions that took forever.

 

[Ken King]

With the name USS Gerald R Ford I would be surprised if it actually floats much less deploys.

 

[stgislander]

It was coding for all the exceptions that took forever.

That's called job security.

 

[Yooper]

Hopefully, adding to the conversation:

The Navy Is Backing Away From Its 355-Ship Plan, Has Invested Too Much In Too Few Hulls

Navy officials are increasingly looking at distributed fleets of lower-cost ships with a heavy emphasis on unmanned platforms.

www.thedrive.com

A snip from the middle of the article:

No matter how the costs are calculated, the Navy is certainly in agreement that the fleet it has today has only become increasingly more expensive in terms of ship unit prices and operational and maintenance costs. "Going back to the ‘80s, when we had the 600-ship Navy, the average cost of our ship in that fleet was a billion dollars, that was the average cost of all those ships," Thomas Modly, the Undersecretary of the Navy, said at the Military Reporters and Editors Conference.

"Today, our current fleet of 290, the average cost is $2 billion. And that’s in real dollars, inflation-adjusted real dollars," he continued. “So what that suggests is we’re piling a lot more capability and a lot more expense on a smaller number of platforms."

This reality extends to operational and maintenance costs, as well, and is apparently reflected most in the ballooning price of what it takes to operate a complete carrier strike group. Carrier strike groups, previously known as carrier battle groups, accounted for around 14 percent of the Navy's operations and maintenance budget 30 years ago, according to USNI News. Today, it's just over 30 percent.

My limited perspective has always been more LHDs and LHAs; as in, reduce the single point of failure dilemma a massive, single CVN is. But operating costs and manpower needs probably makes that approach unrealistic.

This is quite a resource-constrained puzzle to solve.

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[Monello]

Hopefully, adding to the conversation:

The Navy Is Backing Away From Its 355-Ship Plan, Has Invested Too Much In Too Few Hulls

Navy officials are increasingly looking at distributed fleets of lower-cost ships with a heavy emphasis on unmanned platforms.

www.thedrive.com

A snip from the middle of the article:


My limited perspective has always been more LHDs and LHAs; as in, reduce the single point of failure dilemma a massive, single CVN is. But operating costs and manpower needs probably makes that approach unrealistic.

This is quite a resource-constrained puzzle to solve.

--- End of line (MCP)

Part of the old build up was the Perry class FFGs. I think we ordered 60 or so of them. They were like the Yugo of the fleet. Cheap to buy but built cheaply. Now 35 years later they are all decommissioned. Yet the B52s used Vietnam are still around. Talk about getting your money's worth.

 

[Yooper]

Part of the old build up was the Perry class FFGs. I think we ordered 60 or so of them. They were like the Yugo of the fleet. Cheap to buy but built cheaply. Now 35 years later they are all decommissioned. Yet the B52s used Vietnam are still around. Talk about getting your money's worth.

Decommissioned because they were reduced to junk/too beat up to upgrade? Or because the Navy wanted shinier, newer things? I ask, because that's the sense (the latter) I'm getting from articles like the one I linked to.

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[This_person]

USS Gerald R. Ford returns to sea for another round of sea trials
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) returned to sea Friday, leaving Newport News after 15 months of an extended maintenance period known as a post-shake down availability.

The carrier is now out for another round of sea trials.

I heard they're up to 7 elevators working now.

 

[GURPS]

Or because the Navy wanted shinier, newer things? I ask, because that's the sense (the latter) I'm getting from articles like the one I linked to.

Of Course they do ...

Spinning Rims and Coffee Cup Holders

 

[Gilligan]

Decommissioned because they were reduced to junk/too beat up to upgrade? Or because the Navy wanted shinier, newer things? I ask, because that's the sense (the latter) I'm getting from articles like the one I linked to.

--- End of line (MCP)

I’m working in Egypt with the same support team that keeps the Perrys going over there....they are in great shape. Their Perry’s are the backbone of their surface fleet at this time.

 

[Kyle]

With the name USS Gerald R Ford I would be surprised if it actually floats much less deploys.

It'll probably have a tendency to list or tumble.

 

[Kyle]

I’m working in Egypt with the same support team that keeps the Perrys going over there....they are in great shape. Their Perry’s are the backbone of their surface fleet at this time.

How many oarsmen does it take to move one of those things?

 

[Gilligan]

How many oarsmen does it take to move one of those things?

pffft. They use these big rectangular sails nowadays.

 

[Kyle]

pffft. They use these big rectangular sails nowadays.

Higher Tech!