Ford Aircraft Carriers Not Ready For F-35s, So Aging Vinson Gets The Call
The long road the F-35 took to finally being ready to deploy has forced the Navy's new $13 billion carrier class to leave the plane behind -- for now at least.
By Paul McLeary on November 05, 2019 at 12:10 PM
WASHINGTON: The Navy is upgrading one of its oldest aircraft carriers to be the first to fly the service’s newest plane, the F-35C, giving it a capability the service’s brand-new $13 billion carrier, the delayed and trouble-prone USS Gerald R. Ford, won’t have for years once it deploys.
Navy officials say the Ford and its follow-on carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy, are not being built to carry F-35s, and will have to undergo upgrades years after they’ve deployed. The plan is in keeping with a complicated maintenance and upgrade schedule the service has devised to marry ships with the Joint Strike Fighter as both become available.
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/11/ford-aircraft-carriers-not-ready-for-f-35s-so-aging-vinson-gets-the-call/
