US Navy makes progress on aircraft carrier Ford’s bedeviled weapons elevators
By: David B. Larter  
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is over the halfway mark in certifying the new aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford’s 11 advanced weapons elevators, which have been at the center of an ongoing controversy over delays in getting the Navy’s most expensive-ever warship ready for its first deployment.
In a news release Thursday, the Navy announced it had certified Lower Stage Weapons Elevator 1, the sixth certified working elevator. LSWE 1 moves bombs from the forward magazine up to a staging area beneath the flight deck, where the weapons are armed and sent to the upper-stage weapons elevators that go to the flight deck. Crews had already certified the elevator that brings bombs from the aft magazine to the staging area.
The elevators are designed to reduce the time it takes to get bombs armed and to the flight deck to mount on aircraft.
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/07/23/the-us-navy-is-making-progress-on-the-carrier-fords-bedeviling-weapons-elevators/
