Navy Contractors Feud Over Who Pays for Fixes to Troubled $13 Billion Warship
- Propulsion system fixed with Navy footing the bill for now
- Defect caused January 2018 failure of propulsion gear at sea
This article is for subscribers only.
Almost two years after the U.S. Navy’s costliest warship was first hobbled by manufacturing defects with its propulsion system, the two companies at the center of the breakdown are haggling over who will have to pay back taxpayers for fixing the problem.
Aircraft carrier-builder Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. and subcontractor General Electric Co. are in talks over who will pay the Navy for fixes it made on the propulsion system of the troubled $13 billion USS Gerald R. Ford. The service last month declared the system finally fixed, though the carrier still has a number of other shortfalls.