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Elevator woes linger on new US carrier, as ‘nightmare weapon’ concerns raised

2nd August 2019 - 13:48 GMT | by Marc Selinger in Washington, DC

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The US Navy is struggling to fix technical problems with the advanced weapons elevators on the first Ford-class aircraft carrier, according to a key senator.

Only two of the ship’s 11 elevators will be working when USS Gerald R Ford (CVN-78) leaves its current maintenance and upgrade period in Virginia in October, despite earlier assurances from the navy that all of them would be ready by then, said Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Nine elevators are not expected to be functioning until 2020 or later.

The delay ‘indicates either poor

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