SECNAV: HII misled Navy; GA praised

NORFOLK, Va. - Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer minced no words Oct. 27 when asked about the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford’s ongoing engineering issues with its Advanced Weapons Elevator, after visiting the ship while undergoing sea trials off the Virginia coast. The Navy was kept in the dark by Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) leadership about the severity of those engineering issues, SECNAV told reporters. The Ford left HII’s Newport News Shipyard on Friday headed to open water three months later than originally expected. That’s because its expected 12-month post shakedown maintenance period slipped three additional months, mainly due to the weapons elevators, but included other technological-related snafus. The repeated delays and cost overruns to date, drew the ire of House Armed Services Committee’s readiness subcommittee member Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) who called the carrier a “$13-billion nuclear-powered berthing barge.” Spencer said he understands Congress’ role of oversight, but felt the representative’s comments went too far. SECNAV praised the work of civilians and sailors working together “to knock down these problems.” Spencer’s ire is with HII’s “senior management, the board of directors” and the shipyard for not communicating the problem up front. HII originally promised the ship’ post-shakedown availability by July 15, Spencer said, and telling the Navy they were “fairly confident they’re going to get all the elevators done.” But that changed in March, according to SECNAV, when “all of a sudden” the shipyard informed Navy that the elevators wouldn’t be completed until sometime in 2021 or 2022. “That was a bit of a gut blow,” he said. Sometime after that the “Navy came in and did what we should have done earlier” and “took control of the situation completely” and “got the issues knocked down.” HII didn’t comment directly on SECNAV’s statements, bit called the carrier a “first-in-class ship” that has had “many unique challenges.” according to Beci Brenton, spokeswoman for HII. “Some of the newer technologies have been more challenging than anticipated,” she said. Spencer said he believes the ship and program have turned a corner in recent months, and that the worst is history. “The major technologies that we put on board this ship are working,” Spencer said. He cited the ship’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and its companion, the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) are “signed off and fully functional.” (Source: Reuters 10/27/19) Gulf Coast Note: General Atomics’ (GA) Electromagnetic Systems division at Tupelo, Miss., produces EMALS and AAG programs. SECNAV was asked when Ford may be deployable. He wouldn't commit to an exact timetable, but said it was "going to be way before 2024, I guarantee that." https://defaeroreport.com/2019/10/27/secnav-huntington-ingalls-leadership-misled-navy-on-ford-elevator-issues/