On Costliest U.S. Warship Ever, Navy Can’t Get Munitions on Deck
- ‘Essentially, the ship can’t deploy,’ lawmaker Luria says
- Weapons can’t be lifted to the deck of USS Gerald R. Ford
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Only two of 11 elevators needed to lift munitions to the deck of the U.S. Navy’s new $13 billion aircraft carrier have been fully installed, according to a Navy veteran who serves on a key House committee.
“I don’t see an end in sight right now” to getting all the elevators working on the USS Gerald R. Ford, the costliest warship ever, Democratic Representative Elaine Luria of Virginia said in an interview. The ship was supposed to be delivered with the Advanced Weapons Elevators, which are moved by magnets rather than cables, working in May 2017.