US Navy’s new supercarrier unable to launch jets for days after electromagnetic catapult fails
- USS Gerald R. Ford experienced a power problem during recent testing at sea
- Launch system failure among several technology issues confronting new vessel
The US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier experienced a failure of its electromagnetic launch system last week in the latest sign that the US$13.2 billion vessel hasn’t fully resolved hurdles tied to its cutting-edge technology as it undergoes at-sea testing.
The system on the USS Gerald R. Ford – which propels planes off the deck and into the sky – “went down” June 2 just before a scheduled aircraft launch, the US Navy said. The failure of the system, built by General Atomics, “curtailed flight operations to some extent”, according to a statement.
No cause for the breakdown has been found, according to an internal US Navy document. After several days, the US Navy said, it found a workaround to the catapult problem and jets were able to resume flight operations on Sunday.
“The crew supported by a team of experts developed an alternate method to launch the air wing off yesterday,” Captain Danny Hernandez, a US Navy spokesman, said. “Any corrective actions will be key to ensuring that when Ford enters the fleet after operational testing” it’s ready to support operations, he added.
Reliability problems with the catapult system have been among previously identified, high-profile technology issues confronting the Ford, the first of three carriers in a new class.
The earlier problems attracted US President Donald Trump’s attention. Comparing the catapult system to an older, steam-driven version on previous ships, Trump said in 2018 that “steam is very reliable, and the electromagnetic – I mean, unfortunately, you have to be Albert Einstein to really work it properly”.