Extra-fuel jets can’t launch from GRF

The Navy's Super Hornets and Growlers can't launch from the service’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, if they’re carrying 480-gallon extended-flight fuel tanks under their wings because of a deficiency in the ship's high-tech catapults. The deficiency would "preclude the Navy from conducting normal operations" aboard GRD until it's corrected, says Air Force Maj. Eric Badger, spokesman for the Pentagon's testing office. The previously undisclosed issue with the General Atomics catapult system adds to shortcomings for the first in a new class of aircraft carriers being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News, Va. shipyards. Flaws in the ship's landing system also are being fixed, and the Government Accountability Office has said other needed improvements are being deferred until March 2016 to stay within a congressionally-imposed $12.9 billion construction cap. The electromagnetic launch system puts more stress on the tanks than older steam-powered catapults; and would cause premature damage to the aircraft, according to documents. The issue apparently won't delay an April 8 meeting at the Pentagon to review awarding a potential $4 billion construction contract to HHI for the next carrier (John F. Kennedy), an unnamed defense official said. (Source: Bloomberg News 03/26/15) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding and Maritime Note: Huntington Ingalls Industries is the nation’s largest shipbuilder with headquarters in Newport News, Va. Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Miss., a division of HII, is a pioneer in the development and production of technologically advanced surface ships and warships for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps.
FOLLOW-ON NOTICE TO ABOVE STORY - Navy Cmdr. Thurraya Kent said the problem was discovered in April 2014 during testing at Lakehurst, N.J. "The Navy understands the issue, views it as a low technical risk, and has a funded plan in place to fix it," she said in an email to the the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press. "The fix will involve a software change and will be completed well before any planned operational launch and recovery of aircraft."