US Navy's Geurts on Ford: Propulsion, Electrical Systems, Catapults, Arresting, Radar are Ready

Col. James "Hondo" Geurts, USAF Ret., the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, discusses getting the USS Gerald R Ford ready for duty and makes clear that the ship's propulsion and electrical systems, electromagnetic catapults, novel arresting gear and new dual-band radar are working well as the service qualifies aircraft to operate from the new supercarrier with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Geurts hosted a handful of reporters aboard Ford on Jan. 27, 2020, as the she steamed off the Virginia coast for aircraft compatibility testing.

[Erik-rphi]

Basically Ford is a Prototype. It will have bugs. Washington needs to understand the definition of Prototype. The up front design must be well thought out and fabrication top notch. Otherwise it is a losing game.

[jlsmithdowntown]

I understand prototype... This ship was Commission in 2013... Let that sink in 7 years ago... Still hasn't deployed with a full crew... You are still a prototype until you have full crew An Air wing at sea..only .2 out of the 11 Weapons elevators working... 7 years and no data on the full air wing... Radar not working... Self defense systems not working... Probably will not make a full deployment until 2022 or 2023 H*** you would have spent half of your career in Newport News Shipyard or at pier 12... Will not and cannot deploy with F35.. Should have been called it building 78... Warships belong at sea...

[jamesmterrell]

I still want to know if the power to the cats can be cross connected.