The US Navy's aircraft carrier "Gerald Ford" has other, more serious problems following a fire in early March, Bloomberg reports, citing the Pentagon's weapons testing agency.
The agency said that data from current tests is insufficient to assess the ship's "operational fitness" or the reliability of several key systems, including the jet engine start-up and recovery system, radar, ability to continue operating when hit by enemy fire, and weapons and ammunition handling systems.
This means that it is unclear how well the "Gerald R. Ford" and other ships from its class can detect, track or intercept enemy aircraft and anti-ship missiles, and how the aircraft carrier's systems will perform under the military strain of continuous takeoffs and landings.
Bloomberg notes that these are not the only problems with the aircraft carrier; there are others, particularly severe for the crew. They include an insufficient number of beds to adequately accommodate all the sailors, as well as personnel from temporary units accompanying the ship in combat.
The ship was deployed to the Middle East in February, where it participated in the US-Israeli operation “Epic Fury“ against Iran. However, on March 12, a fire broke out aboard the ship - it started in a room intended for laundry. The US Navy specified that the cause of the fire was not combat-related.
Two sailors were injured, and The New York Times reports that dozens of members of the crew suffered from smoke inhalation. According to the Navy command, the aircraft carrier continued to carry out combat missions as usual. However, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported on March 17 that the aircraft carrier would return to the naval base, in part to conduct an investigation into the incident.
According to one version, the fire was started by crew members in an attempt to interrupt the combat mission and a large-scale investigation is now underway for intentional sabotage. Kathimerini and other media outlets report that the hypothesis that the sailors started the fire in an attempt to end their extremely long and repeatedly extended mission is being investigated. This week, the “Gerald Ford“ arrived at the naval base of Souda on the Greek island Crete.
“Gerald Ford“ was launched in 2017, becoming the most expensive American warship ever built, costing $13.2 billion.