The plane couldn’t have been included in the designs for the first two of four planned Ford carriers, one Navy official told me, because the F-35C’s final form was still a work in progress when the final design for the Fords was wrapping up.
That means the 36-year old USS Carl Vinson, which started its build under the Nixon administration and launched in 1983, will be the F-35s first home at sea. The ship is currently undergoing a $34 million refit in Bremerton Wash. until July 2020, followed by a 2021 deployment.
That was from Breaking Defense, “Ford Aircraft Carriers Not Ready For F-35s, So Aging Vinson Gets The Call“.
CVN-78 Gerald Ford Detailed Design & Construction contract was awarded on Sep. 10, 2008. LRIP 2 for the F-35 program had been definitized a few months earlier on May 8, 2008. So the Air Force, Navy, and Marines believed the F-35C was mature enough to enter a second production contract before the Ford’s DD&C contract was awarded. Does this mean that since 2008, the F-35C has seen enough weight growth to surpass the Ford’s design parameters? What other design aspects of the could have changed so much as to have compromised the Ford’s launch and arrest of the F-35C?
The FY2020 NDAA draft has a Section 113 which requires the follow-on CVN-79 Kennedy to be able to operate the F-35C before Navy accepts delivery. Yet from the sound of the article, the Navy does not expect that outcome. It’ll be interesting to see how that shakes out.
It is also interesting that a nearly 40 year old steam catapult carrier, the Vinson, requires only a $34 million refitting to operate the F-35C. I’m sure that the $34 million includes numerous other work besides the F-35C. But this is perhaps a testament to the advantages simple/reliable technology provides.
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