US Navy takes delivery of new US$12.9 billion aircraft carrier, target of Trump criticism
The first of a new class of aircraft carriers has been officially delivered to the US Navy after more than a year of delays, cost overruns and technological glitches that drew criticism from President Donald Trump.
The Navy said Thursday that the USS Gerald R. Ford will now go through various workups at sea before becoming operational in 2020. The Navy plans to build at least two more Ford-Class carriers, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The Navy says the technologically superior Ford can carry more planes and operate with several hundred fewer sailors. A new electromagnetic system for launching aircraft will help to increase flying missions by a third.
But the delivery of the new carrier by Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia follows Trump’s complaints about the ship’s new catapult launch system, which uses previously untested technology.
The president told Time magazine last month that the Navy should go back to using steam catapults because the new system “costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good.”
