Their transgender POC operators are ready, but not the ship

Despite Promises, USS Ford Heads To Shock Trials With 4 Broken Elevators

Full ship shock trials on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) are set to begin within weeks. Commissioned in 2017, but with key systems incomplete, U.S. Navy leaders have repeatedly assured Congress and the public that the USS Ford would be ready before the forthcoming shock trials. But with four of the USS Ford’s seven critical lower-stage weapons elevators still unready for service, naval credibility is at stake. If the shock trials go forward, testing an incomplete ship, the Navy stands to miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fully validate the battle-hardiness of America’s future carrier fleet in real-world conditions.

Late on May 7, a Navy spokesperson confirmed that four lower-stage advanced weapons elevators will not be certified until later in 2021, likely after the shock trials take place. Two of the four undelivered lower stage elevators are being tested, and the final two elevators are in the “last stages of construction” and are “estimated to complete, certify and turnover later this year.” The spokesperson noted that the USS Ford’s unready elevators “will be in an appropriate material condition to safely conduct Full Ship Shock Trials.”

While the Navy could still complete the elevators before the shock trial, it is running out of time. If the remaining weapons elevators are not certified by the time the shock trials begin, then they probably will not be delivered until sometime near the end of the USS Ford’s next Planned Incremental Availability—which is expected to complete in February 2022.  

The USS Ford is a victim of the Navy’s ongoing credibility crisis. While the Navy’s likely inability to deliver all of the USS Ford’s elevators before the USS Ford’s full ship shock trials will be a disappointment, the repeated failure of key Navy leaders to detect and disseminate accurate performance information on the USS Ford’s progress is dangerous. The Navy and Nation needs accurate information from naval leaders far more urgently than it needs the USS Ford’s elevators to work. 

National credibility is on the line, and all involved, from Acting Navy Undersecretary James F. Geurts on down, must be held accountable for what they say and then fail to do.

Much more at the link — it’s a big deal, seems to me.