General Atomics gains USN installation qualification

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced on 9 September that its engineers can now be contracted to independently perform shipboard alterations and system modifications aboard USN vessels during maintenance availability periods.

Alteration Installation Team (AIT) qualification will be particularly relevant for aircraft catapult launch and recovery systems that GA-EMS has installed on land and aboard Gerald R Ford-class aircraft carriers.

GA-EMS will manage the AIT effort from its recently expanded facility in Hampton, Virginia, which is near the Newport News shipyard where Ford-class carriers are under construction.

USS Gerald R Ford is already undergoing a Planned Incremental Availability maintenance period.

James Donnelly, GA-EMS director of maritime programmes, added that the company’s experience in designing, manufacturing, installing and supporting complex engineering projects such as Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems (EMALS) could be translated for other USN ship classes.

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Gerald R. Ford Class