U.S. Navy Ordered to Put Costliest Carrier Through Shock Testing
Top Pentagon officials have ordered the Navy to conduct shock tests at sea for its new aircraft carrier over objections from the service, which says the requirement may delay deployment by as long as six months.
Navy officials have argued that postponing full shock testing of the $12.9 billion USS Gerald R. Ford, the costliest U.S. warship, until as late as 2025 is justified because its components are being fully tested, it’s designed to be hardened against combat shocks and it’s being evaluated through modeling and simulation.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, the Defense Department’s No. 2 civilian official, decided otherwise and directed that the tests be completed before deployment of the ship designated CVN 78 and built by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., according to a memo sent to the Navy and a spokeswoman for the service.
The test “will be conducted to ensure the survivability of the CVN 78 design is understood prior to beginning operational deployments,” Frank Kendall, the undersecretary for acquisition, wrote on Aug. 7 to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, conveying Work’s decision.
In a shock trial, underwater charges are set off to assess how well a ship can withstand them. A crew is on board, and the test isn’t intended to damage equipment. The results are used to judge vulnerabilities and design changes that may be needed.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-11/navy-ordered-to-put-costliest-carrier-through-at-sea-shock-tests
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