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Navy/USMC

Aquilino Says Nine Of 11 Ford Elevators Finished

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021

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Aquilino Says Nine Of 11 Ford Elevators Finished

A Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding engineer grinds in USS Gerald R. Ford's (CVN-78) Lower Stage Weapons Elevator 1 on July 18, 2020, during final days prior to certification. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

The Navy has completed nine of the total 11 planned weapons elevators on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) aircraft carrier, Adm. John Aquilino told a congressional panel on Tuesday. CVN-78 is late and overbudget thanks to various technical issues in this new first of its class aircraft carrier, with one notably being the planned 11 total Advanced Weapons Elevators (AWEs). “All but two of the weapons elevators are repaired as I understand it, and we are certainly through all…

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