The Congressional report makes it clear that the cost overruns are still a problem. There are critical technological problems that will likely not get sorted out til 2020. The first two may be delivered in March 2016 and June 2022 but they will still be working on achieving the reliability and performance that was desired. The US is looking to overhaul and modify the USS George Washington as a backup.
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The Congressional Research services has a new report, Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress.
The report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) class aircraft carrier program. The Navy’s proposed FY2016 budget requests a total of $2,633.1 million in procurement and advance procurement (AP) funding for CVN-78, CVN-79, and CVN-80, the first three ships in the program. Congress’s decisions on the
CVN-78 program could substantially affect Navy capabilities and funding requirements and the shipbuilding industrial base.
The Navy’s current aircraft carrier force consists of 10 nuclear-powered Nimitz-class ships (CVNs 68 through 77). Until December 2012, the Navy’s aircraft carrier force included an 11th aircraft carrier—the one-of-a-kind nuclear-powered Enterprise (CVN-65), which entered service in 1961.
The Ford-class design uses the basic Nimitz-class hull form but incorporates several improvements, including features permitting the ship to generate about 25% more aircraft sorties per day, more electrical power for supporting ship systems, and features permitting the ship to be operated by several hundred fewer sailors than a Nimitz-class ship, significantly reducing lifecycle operating and support (O and S) costs.
The Navy 2016 budget yields to Congress’s strong opposition to the service’s previous efforts to cut the active fleet to save money. It funds nuclear refueling and overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington –that it had tried to retire — and modifies its plan to put 11 cruisers and an amphibious ship into a deferred modernization program. Those changes would preserve the 11-carrier fleet and increase the operational fleet from the current 279 ships to 304 in 2020
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