Cost to Fix Gears on $13 Billion Aircraft Carrier Has Contractors Dickering

GE and HII still negotiating over the tab for a 2018 breakdown
US Navy, which paid for the repairs, awaits repayment

USS Gerald R. Ford underway on its own power for the first time in April 2017.Source: Getty Images North America

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By Anthony Capaccio

April 3, 2023 at 9:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Five years after the US Navy’s costliest warship was crippled by flawed engine gears, prime contractor HII says it may be close to resolving a claim against subcontractor General Electric Co. over who will pay for fixing the defect.

The propulsion problem that forced the USS Gerald R. Ford to return to port in 2018 was one of many issues of varying severity that the $13 billion aircraft carrier has faced since its May 2017 delivery. The Navy declared the gears fixed in May 2019, and the service advanced funds to HII to fix the issue.