Last month, the Navy indicated that delivery of CVN-78 will not be viable until after November, largely due to engine problems on the ship.
On Wednesday, Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, the head of Naval Sea Systems Command, insisted that repairs are on track.
"We’re having regular conversations with the Hill and CNO (Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson) about that, and I expect before the end of the year here, we’ll be able to set a date certain," Moore told reporters, according to Breaking Defense.
"I can’t give you a date today, because we’ve got two months or so of testing."
It came to light last month that the USS Ford’s main turbine generators (MTG) had been damaged in electrical explosions during trials. The cause was traced to faulty voltage regulators. The ship requires some $37 million worth of repairs.
"The problem with the MTGs is isolated to the MTGs, and we’re just about done (with) the root cause analysis and putting some fixes in place, and I expect us to be back into testing the MTGs on Ford here in the next couple weeks," Moore said.
"The rest of the test program on the ship is continuing."
While evaluations of the warship’s aircraft launch and landing systems are complete, the Navy still needs to complete tests on the Ford’s Dual-Band Radar and Advanced Weapons Elevators.
The Ford isn’t the Navy’s only problem. Citing "capacity issues at the naval shipyards," Moore said that a number of projects have faced delays.
"We did not induct the Boise this summer," he said, referring to a nuclear attack submarine. "The Boise availability was going to take 47 months, for an availability that should have taken about 22.
"We’re working as quickly as we can to get change proposals out, but the (process) that we use to design a new system, flesh it out, get it in the budget, sometimes is not compatible with the pace that the threat is changing."
The Ford has seen a number of delays, which has resulted in military officials’ lack of confidence in the new vessel.
"Unless these issues are resolved, which would likely require redesigning, they will significantly limit the CVN-78’s ability to conduct combat operations," Michael Gilmore, DoD director of operational test and evaluation, wrote in a July memo.
US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has been vocal about his frustrations with the USS Ford’s development.
"The advanced arresting gear cannot recover airplanes. Advanced weapons elevators cannot lift munitions. The dual-band radar cannot integrate two radar bands," he said in a statement.
"Even if everything goes according to the Navy’s plan, CVN-78 will be delivered with multiple systems unproven."
