these 40 000 pound underwater bombs are
just another test before the u.s navy's
largest and most expensive aircraft
carrier is declared combat ready
the uss gerald r ford is the first in a
new class of carriers with more
firepower and a smaller crew
the previous class began service in
1975.
the ford was designed to save billions
over a 50-year lifespan
still the ford was double the cost of
the last carrier built and it's been
plagued with unexpected costs and delays
just unclogging the toilets can cost
four hundred thousand dollars
we went aboard the uss ford to find out
why america's most advanced aircraft
carrier still can't be deployed nearly
two decades after plans to build it
began
[Music]
these sailors are moving ordinance onto
a new kind of weapons elevator that
allows them to do what would be
impossible on any other aircraft carrier
we're bypassing the mess deck area we're
completely independent
you would never even see us moving
ordinance throughout the day so it's
more secure with higher survivability
and we can store more on board
it's the only way to move munitions from
deep inside the forward to rearm planes
on its flight deck less advanced
carriers move weapons in a more
dangerous way through the hangars to the
flight deck
there are 11 elevators on board yet only
7 are fully functioning
until all 11 elevators are complete this
ship can't be certified for deployment
the advanced weapons elevators are just
one example of nearly two dozen major
new technologies that make the uss ford
cutting edge and one big floating
experiment
tal manville is a retired navy captain
who served as the very first project
manager on this new class of aircraft
carrier
the ship was supposed to start
construction in o4
it got moved o5 they made an adjustment
they delayed it a second time they
delayed it a third time pushing that out
the ship just by those delays went from
6.4 billion dollars to 10 billion
dollars
the ford is the first of four new
carriers already in different stages of
design and build
the navy plans to replace the entire
super carrier fleet with fords
u.s law requires its navy to operate 11
carriers at all times but with all the
delays the u.s is down to 10. the reason
we have 11 is driven by the fact that
the
u.s navy is kind of a two ocean navy if
you will of the 22 aircraft carriers in
the world half are american while china
italy and the uk have just two each this
carrier class if if we build 10 or 11 or
12 could go easily into the 22nd century
more than 5 000 shipbuilders worked an
estimated 49 million hours to build the
ford
that's seven times the hours logged
building the empire state building
admiral mike gilday the chief of naval
operations said it was a mistake to
introduce more than maybe one or two
technologies on any complex platform at
a time
admiral gilday is right what you want to
do is only do one or two
new technologies on a new ship and
here's the reason why
ships are the only weapon
that
the the prototype the first of the class
goes to war on
the ship was christened in 2013.
the navy accepted delivery of the ship
in 2017 without everything working as a
way to stay under that year's budget
requirements
four years later the carrier's systems
and technology are still being tested
and it won't be ready for deployment
until 2022
so it can go to sea
pilots can take off and land but the
problems are still being ironed out
before it's ready to go to war
it's pretty clear that putting this many
new technologies onto one ship was a
mistake from a program management
perspective because it did cause the
program to be delayed
the delays and tests and fixes are so
costly that every new piece of
technology is over budget
two of the technologies that set the
ford apart from every other carrier are
the aircraft takeoff and landing systems
some of those are very large you know
not incremental uh changes but i would
say revolutionary changes in terms of
the electromagnetic aircraft launch
system
[Music]
other carriers use steam driven
catapults to propel their jets off the
deck
but the ford uses electromagnetic linear
induction motors similar to a high speed
maglev train or roller coaster
just research and design on the
electromagnetic aircraft launch system
cost over one billion dollars
installing it on the uss ford cost more
than twice what it was supposed to
the steam catapult system had thousands
of moving parts there are less than 100
moving parts
on a electromagnetic catapult so that
was a big improvement fewer moving parts
means fewer sailors to operate and
maintain
the smaller crew and new technologies
were projected to save 4 billion over
its 50-year run compared to the previous
class of aircraft carriers
the new system causes less stress on the
planes so they last longer and more
types of aircraft can use it including
ones that are still being designed
landing and takeoff are easier on pilots
too since a computer does the work the
pilot turns over control to the computer
it autopilots the airplane down to the
carrier deck and then when it hits that
advanced arresting gear it just smoothly
brings it to a stop so it's a
dramatically different
experience for the pilot it's much safer
and then it's also going to make the
airplane last longer
the ford's computerized systems allow
both lighter and heavier planes to take
off and land something that limited
older carriers
the ford's combination of new
technologies means that a wider variety
of aircraft can land on it
it's smoother arrestments for aircraft
that is our goal here on board for a
future of naval aviation flying drones
and f-35s oddly enough the new launch
system can't handle the newest fighter
plane so the ford will need a retrofit
to handle the f-35 stealth fighter
the next ford class carrier is under
construction in the shipyard but it's
already being modified for the f-35 at
an added cost of 315 million dollars
many of the ford's delays can be traced
back to politics
five american presidents over two
decades weighed in on the planning and
building of the ford
the department of defense made the
aircraft carrier program far more
expensive than it needed to be
and you can take that to the bank
so far the true cost of building this
war horse is 13.3 billion dollars a
number that's increased nearly every
year since construction began
even the most basic of on-board
functions can be eye-wateringly
expensive the ship has 750 toilets
connected through vacuum pressure like
the system on commercial jets when one
toilet gets clogged the whole system can
be affected the fix requires an acid
flush that costs four hundred thousand
dollars and the navy has said it doesn't
know how often it will need to be done
the navy changed its shipbuilding
programs when the ford's problems came
up
he began designing and testing the
takeoff systems on land in 2011
while the ford was under construction
the advanced weapons elevators are also
now being tested before installation
however that program will only benefit
the next ford class carrier
built as a deterrent the true value of
the forward is likely to be in the wars
it helps prevent rather than those it
wages
you