Aircraft takeoff and landing systems on the USS Gerald R. Ford remain unreliable and break down too often more than three years after the $13.2 billion carrier was delivered, according to the Pentagon¡¯s top tester.
The latest assessment of the costliest warship ever built ¡°remains consistent¡± with previous years, director of testing Robert Behler said in his new summary of the program, obtained by Bloomberg News before its release in an annual report.
¡°Poor or unknown reliability of new technology systems critical for flight operations,¡± including its $3.5 billion electromagnetic launch system and ¡°Advanced Arresting Gear,¡± could ¡°adversely affect¡± the carrier¡¯s ability to generate sorties, he said.
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