Nice write-up in Proceedings on the Ford Class carrier. Over $12B in construction and design with the idea that many of the one-time costs borne by this ship will not be present on follow-on constructions. Not certain that is true – we seem to always find ways to spend those savings elsewhere.
What is interesting is the ship is scheduled to be launched AND christened *next year*. I did not know it was that close to being complete. Will be interesting to see how her ship’s trials and flight certs go with EMALS and the advanced arresting gear.
RPC John R. Walker, USN (Ret) // Oct 28, 2012 at 7:27 pm
I was hoping that the Navy would recycle some of the old carrier names like Langley, Lexington, Hornet, Intrepid, Independence, Coral Sea, Midway, Ranger, Essex, Oriskany, Shangri La, Enterprise etc… There is so much history here to honor. In the name of decency, please never name a carrier after Bill Clinton, or Barry Santos (aka Barack Hussein Obama). It would be a terrible dishonor to those who have served in uniform and will.
Pinch // Oct 29, 2012 at 12:44 pm
Agreed, John. We’ve already seen the politicization of Navy ship names with the John Murtha and the Gabby Giffords and the Ceasar Chavez. Nauseates me.