US Navy personnel load munitions onto the USS Gerald R. Ford’s elevator. The Ford has repeatedly experienced problems with the elevator, which relies on an electromagnetic system rather than the traditional cables and pulleys of the Nimitz class. (US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jarrod Bury)
Huntington Ingalls Just Won a Massive Aircraft Carrier Elevator Contract
The contract, altogether worth $418 billion, would include elevator repairs, ongoing maintenance, and training for both the Nimitz-class and Ford-class carriers, as well as dozens of amphibious assault ships.
The largest military shipbuilder in the United States was awarded another sizable Pentagon contract this week. Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), based in Newport News, Virginia, will now oversee the repairs and maintenance of the shipboard-based elevators on the United States Navy’s aircraft carriers and amphibious ships as part of its ongoing efforts to support the “fleet’s operational readiness.”
HII, which employs more than 44,000 people, remains the sole designer, builder, and refueler of the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers for the US Navy. It is currently one of only two companies equipped to build nuclear-powered submarines, alongside General Dynamics Electric Boat.
Under a new five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, valued at $418 million, HII’s Missions Technologies division will oversee elevator maintenance on the US Navy’s Nimitz-class and Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers, as well as all of the service’s elevator-equipped amphibious assault ships, including the Wasp-class (LHDs) and America-class (LHAs) large-deck amphibious assault ships. The maintenance could further be extended to the San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks (LPDs) and the Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships (LSDs). There are approximately 31 larger amphibious warfare ships in service, along with the 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
“Ensuring that essential operational systems—including shipboard elevators—run reliably is central to meeting the readiness needs of our US sailors and Marines,” said Michael Lempke, president of Mission Technologies’ Global Security group. “We look forward to applying four decades of Elevator Support Unit experience to safeguard the performance of these systems and ensure they are reliable, resilient and fully capable of supporting the fleet.”
The Ford-Class Carrier’s Elevators Keep Breaking
Neither HII nor the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the contracting authority, specified when the work would begin, but it was noted that it would be performed “within the continental United States, outside the continental United States and at forward-deployed locations around the world.”
It is expected that significant effort will be directed to the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the US Navy’s newest and largest supercarrier. The nuclear-powered flattop, which completed a historic 11-month-long deployment last month, is equipped with a host of new technologies—many of which came with glitches that needed to be ironed out, a process former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday described as being “painful.” The weapons and stores elevators on the Ford employ an electromagnetic design, and while touted as being far more capable and able to lift heavier loads than the cable-driven, pulley, and hydraulic systems of the Nimitz class, there were significant issues that needed to be addressed.
“Out of 11 elevator units, none were functioning at the time of Ford‘s delivery in 2017, and it took a team of the Navy’s best experts four years to rebuild and ‘commission’ the elevators one by one,” Maritime Executive explained.
Sailors to Receive New Elevator Training
In addition to conducting repairs and maintenance of the elevators across the fleet, HII will provide elevator training to the US Navy’s sailors. The efforts will “promote self-sufficiency at sea and provide rapid response fly-away teams that deploy globally to ensure complex maintenance and repairs are completed safely and effectively.”
HII Mission Technology stated that it has “more than 40 years of Elevator Support Unit experience,” and its team will ensure that the lessons learned will be applied throughout the fleet.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
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