
This week the Navy said the fifth overall and first lower Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE) on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) aircraft carrier was certified while noting the next one is expected later this year. “Certifying Lower Stage Weapons Elevator 5 [LSWE 5] is extraordinarily significant, in that we now have the capability to move ordnance from the aft magazine complex deep in the ship through the carrier to the flight deck with a speed and agility that has…