Click here - to select or create a menu

Naval News

Synqor Astute – Naval Power Webinar Registration
  • News
  • Event News
    • Euronaval 2020
    • SNA 2020
    • MADEX 2019
    • PACIFIC 2019
  • Videos
  • Advertising
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
You are at :Home»News»USS Gerald R. Ford gets first advanced weapons elevator
The US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), closed out 2018 on a high note with the acceptance of the ship’s first advanced weapons elevator (AWE), setting the tone for more positive developments in the year ahead, the Carrier's Public Affairs said on January 16.
Chief Machinist's Mate Franklin Pollydore, second from left, from Georgetown, Guyana, goes over safety procedures for the Upper Stage 1 advanced weapons elevator with Sailors from USS Gerald R. Ford's (CVN 78) weapons department (Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jeff Troutman/Released)

USS Gerald R. Ford gets first advanced weapons elevator

Naval News Staff 17 Jan 2019

The US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), closed out 2018 on a high note with the acceptance of the ship’s first advanced weapons elevator (AWE), setting the tone for more positive developments in the year ahead, the Carrier’s Public Affairs said on January 16.

AWE Upper Stage #1 was turned over to the ship on Dec. 21, following testing and certification by engineers at Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding, where the ship is currently working through its post-shakedown availability (PSA). The acceptance marks a major milestone for the ship and the Ford-class of aircraft carriers to follow.

USS Gerald R. Ford is the first Ford-class aircraft carrier and is the first new carrier design in over 40 years. Unlike Nimitz-class carrier elevators that utilize cables for movement, the Ford class elevators are commanded via electromagnetic, linear synchronous motors allowing for greater capacities and a faster movement of weapons.

The new design will allow the ship to be able to move up to 24,000 pounds of ordnance at 150 feet-per-minute. This is in contrast to the 10,500 pounds at up to 100 feet-per-minute on a Nimitz-class carrier.

“This will allow us to load more aircraft faster, and in the long run, increase our overall sortie generation rates,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chabonnie Alexander, Ford’s ordnance handling officer.

But aside from the advantages of the new AWE, the new ship design also offered a chance to streamline the overall movement and assembly of weapons to allow for even greater efficiencies. Ford features three upper stage elevators that move ordnance between the main deck and flight deck, and seven lower stage elevators that move ordnance between the main deck and the lower levels of the ship. Ford also features a dedicated weapons handling area between the hangar bay and the flight deck, on the 02 level, that eliminates several horizontal and vertical movements to various staging and build-up locations. This ultimately offers a 75% reduction in distance traveled from magazine to aircraft.

An additional benefit of the ship’s design is a separate utility elevator that can serve as a dedicated elevator to move both ordnance and supplies, and also serve as a means to medically evacuate (MEDEVAC) injured personnel from the flight deck to the hangar bay. This allows the 10 main AWEs and Ford’s three aircraft elevators to be dedicated to their primary missions of ordnance and aircraft movement during real-world operations.

To keep up with the new technologies and radical changes that the AWEs offer, Ford Sailors recently completed newly developed familiarization, operations and maintenance training in Newport News to become better educated on how to work with and maintain the elevators. The crew is now conducting hands-on training where they will validate technical manuals and maintenance requirements cards against the elevator’s actual operation. Their feedback and observations will ultimately inform future Sailors how to properly and safely operate the elevators.

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) steams in the Atlantic Ocean (Credit U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan Litzenberger/Released)

Alexander said Sailors are now training with the elevator which will complement the classroom instruction they have received to this point.

“Getting this elevator turned over to the ship and allowing our Sailors to get hands-on training on the elevator will help in two ways,” said Alexander. “One, it will help in the training and understanding of the system itself, and two, to work out any bugs that remain with the system during our PSA.”

Though the first elevator has been accepted, work still remains on the remaining 10. Currently, all shipboard installation and testing activities of the AWEs are due to be completed prior to the end of Ford’s PSA, scheduled for July. However, some remaining certification documentation will be performed for five of the 11 elevators after PSA completion.

According to Alexander, while there was sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in having the first elevator turned over, the team working on the elevators can’t rest on this single event.

“We’re all 100 percent invested in this, but there’s still work left to do,” Alexander explained. “We’re all one big team with the same goal in mind: to get these systems operational and turned over to the ship.

“I think it was a greater sense of accomplishment to my Sailors that have been working on these systems for the last 4-to-5 years,” he said. “To be able to finally push the buttons and watch it operate like it’s designed to do was a great feeling. Once these systems are proven, they are going to pay huge dividends for naval strike capability.”

CVN 78 US Navy USS Gerald R. Ford 2019-01-17
Naval News Staff
Tags CVN 78 US Navy USS Gerald R. Ford
Facebook Twitter Stumble linkedin Pinterest More

Authors

Posted by : Naval News Staff

Related Articles

HII Delivers Amphibious Assault Ship Tripoli (LHA 7) to U.S. Navy

HII Delivers Amphibious Assault Ship Tripoli (LHA 7) to U.S. Navy

Xavier Vavasseur 29 Feb 2020
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division delivered amphibious assault ship Tripoli (LHA 7) to the U.S. Navy. Tripoli will be commissioned later this year before sailing to its homeport of San Diego, California.
Littoral Combat Ship USS Charleston (LCS 18) Commissioned Into the U.S. Navy

Littoral Combat Ship USS Charleston (LCS 18) Commissioned Into the U.S. Navy

Xavier Vavasseur 03 Mar 2019
The littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS 18) was commissioned into the U.S. Navy during a ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina, March 2. USS Charleston is the 16th littoral combat ship to enter the U.S. Navy fleet and the 9th of the Austal-built Independence-class.
RIMPAC 2020 Participants Conduct Sinking Exercise

RIMPAC 2020 Participants Conduct Sinking Exercise

Xavier Vavasseur 31 Aug 2020
Live fire from ships and aircraft participating in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise sank the decommissioned amphibious cargo ship ex-USS Durham (LKA 114), Aug. 30.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent posts

IAI’s ELTA & HENSOLDT to Collaborate on Submarine Communications and Surveillance Systems
Euronaval 2020

IAI’s ELTA & HENSOLDT to Collaborate on Submarine Communications and Surveillance Systems

27 Oct 2020
Euronaval Online: Exhibition Report
Euronaval 2020

Euronaval Online: Exhibition Report

27 Oct 2020

Advertisement

Legal / Privacy Policy
About Us
Contact Us

© Naval News 2019 - 2020
All Rights Reserved
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok