Priciest U.S. Warship Spurs Haggling on Who Pays for Crucial Fix
General Electric, Huntington Ingalls in talks over the repair
Navy asked Congress for $30 million as advance for a fix
Four years after the U.S. Navy’s costliest warship was hobbled by a flaw in its propulsion system, prime contractor Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. and subcontractor General Electric Co. are still haggling over who will pay for fixing the defect.
The $13 billion USS Gerald R. Ford was forced to return to port during post-delivery sea trials in early 2018 after the failure of a main thrust bearing, a key propulsion system component that’s made by GE.
Huntington Ingalls has repaired the faulty gear, and the Navy advanced funds for the work. The “actual root cause” of the defective part was “machining errors” by GE workers, according to Navy documents. The bearing, one of four that transfers thrust from the ship’s four propeller shafts, overheated but “after securing the equipment to prevent damage, the ship safely returned to port,” the Navy said in a March 2018 memo to Congress.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-21/priciest-u-s-warship-spurs-haggling-on-who-pays-for-crucial-fix?sref=IYQ5mP1s
