USS Gerald R. Ford’s Final Advanced Weapons Elevators Completed
The United States Navy has announced the completion of all 11 Advanced Weapons Elevators aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford. The 11th and final Advanced Weapons Elevator of the aircraft carrier was turned over to the Ship’s Crew on December 22.
The Advanced Weapons Elevators aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford use electromagnetic motors to transport ordnance, unlike the hydraulic elevators used on previous aircraft carriers like the Nimitz-class. Compared to the Nimitz-class’ weapon elevators’ maximum load of 10,500 pounds of ordnance transported at a maximum speed of 100 feet per minute, the Advanced Weapons Elevators can load up to 24,000 pounds transported at 150 feet per minute, allowing for faster rearming of the carrier’s air wing and more sorties to be carried out.
Additionally, the Advanced Weapons Elevators are designed to work with the Ford’s new centralized ordnance storage system. Ordnance aboard the carrier is stored in two dedicated locations with overhead sprinkler coverage and the ability to jettison the ordnance in the event of an emergency, unlike the “bomb farms” of the Nimitz-class that see weapons staged on mess decks and the hangar bay to facilitate the rearming of aircraft.
Rear Adm. James P. Downey, Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers, said that the completion of the final Advanced Weapons Elevators was a “significant milestone” for the Navy, the Ford and her crew, adding that the Navy-Industry team working on the AWE had worked tirelessly import and at sea to complete the elevators. He continued:
“The Navy-Industry teaming provided the opportunities for hundreds of craftsmen, technicians and engineers, working around the clock—through multiple underway and holiday periods—to get these advanced systems on line and operational.”
The completion of the AWEs comes partway through the Ford’s six-month Planned Incremental Availability at at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding facility in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The carrier entered the PIA following the completion of shock trials in August, with Downey saying that Ford is “on track” to complete it on schedule in spring 2022 ahead of sea trials, training, and deployment.
The handing over of the AWE completes a journey started in December 2018 with the delivery of the first elevator. Repeated troubles with the elevator systems as installed in the carrier meant that the first AWE was only handed over a year after the Ford’s delivery on 22 July 2017, with the difficulties with AWEs and other first-of-their-kind systems like the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System sparking much criticism of the $13 billion carrier.