Scout.com by Kris Osborn 4/14/2017
The future USS Ford is now going through Builders Sea Trials and is also expected to go through a deployment preparation phase known as “post shakedown availability.” Depending upon progress with testing, the Ford is slated to deliver by as soon as sometime next month.
The future USS Gerald R. Ford took a huge step closer to combat upon completing seven days of Builder's Sea Trials April 14, a series of assessments and preparations which prepare the ship for operational service.
Navy officials say the ship could formally deliver to the Navy later this year.
Builder’s Sea Trials test the ship’s systems, components and compartments at sea for the first time. The trials also include high-speed runs and demonstrate many of the carrier’s other capabilities.
A statement from Naval Sea Systems Command said the trails succeeded in tracking aircraft using the Dual Band Radar, conducting "no load" cycles using the new electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) and assessing small boat operations.
Overall, the Navy reports that the USS Ford is now “99-percent” complete. The majority of Ford's test program is complete, including hull mechanical and electrical assessments, propulsion testing and electronics testing, service officials said.
Navy officials tell Scout Warrior that the second Ford-class ship, the future USS Kennedy, will be 50-percent built this year.
The second and third Ford-class carrier are is moving along with construction. Advanced procurement is now underway for the future USS Enterprise, the third Ford-class carrier.
The Ford-class carriers, beginning with the USS Ford, bring the advent of a wide range of unprecedented ship technologies specifically engineered for this high-tech future class of carriers. As a result, testing the technologies and combat durability of the USS Ford is expected to bring implications for the entire class of Ford-carriers.
There is much more computer automation aboard Ford-class carriers, a development which brings the advantage of decreasing the needed carrier-crew size by as many as 800-to-1000 sailors.
Also, by virtue of conducting a wider range of ship functions, such as diagnostics and machinery, through advanced computer automation, the Navy expects to save as much as $4 billion over the life of the carrier. While the new computer technology has of course been engineered to withstand the most rigorous of combat conditions, upcoming evaluations will set a new precedent for these systems.
The Ford’s new electronic elevators -- which better enable ship crews to reload fighter jets on deck -- will likely be put through “Shock Trials” at some point - to see if they can function while under attack.
The new weapons elevators allow for a much more efficient path to move and re-arm weapons systems for aircraft. The elevators can take weapons directly from their magazines to just below the flight deck, therefore greatly improving the sortie-generation rate by making it easier and faster to re-arm planes, service officials explained.
The ship’s larger deck space is, by design, intended to accommodate a potential increase in use of carrier-launched technologies such as unmanned aircraft systems in the future.
The USS Ford is built with four 26-megawatt generators, bringing a total of 104 megawatts to the ship.
Furthermore, the ship’s new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System will pioneer a new, far more capable, take-off-and-landing technology for carrier aircraft; accordingly, this too needs to be assessed in response to nearby explosions.
The EMALS system uses an electromagnetic field to propel aircraft instead of the currently used steam catapult.
More:
http://www.scout.com/military/warrior/story/1760556-future-uss-ford-takes-huge-step-toward-combat
