Speaking of "Ford" class aircraft carrier , many people look at it like F-35. It is full of problems and has frequent failures. It entered service on July 22, 2017, but it has not yet formed combat effectiveness until today. But what exactly is wrong with this 100,000-ton super nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the US military? Has anyone ever detailed it? Today we will talk about this topic.
What's wrong with the Ford number? Has anyone made it clear?
First of all, the biggest problem of "Ford" is definitely its four electromagnetic catapults. According to data from the U.S. Congress in 2021, the design requirement for the average failure cycle of the "Ford" electromagnetic catapult is an average of 4166 times, that is, on average, it will break down only once every 4166 ejections. Even based on the minimum limit of 1/2000, It's also very good.
Electromagnetic ejection system
But in fact, the failure rate when it first entered service was 1/181. After hard work and continuous improvement, it was finally reduced to 1/272 in 2021, but the latest data is only 1/400. In other words, if calculated based on the frequency of US aircraft carriers taking off carrier-based aircraft , the "Ford" will fly the carrier-based aircraft with all its strength for one day, and the catapult will break down the next day. This is because it has been unable to form combat effectiveness. main reason.
Ford's electromagnetic catapult
Secondly, in addition to the electromagnetic catapult, the electromagnetic equipment installed on the "Ford" also includes electromagnetic arresting systems and electromagnetic ammunition elevators. Among them, the design requirement for the average failure period of the electromagnetic arresting system is 1/16500, but the actual period is only 1/41, which is too different from the design index. Moreover, the arresting cable is related to safety, so it is the biggest problem currently encountered by the aircraft carrier.
Electromagnetic arresting system
The design requirement for the mean failure period of the electromagnetic ammunition elevator is 1/932, but in fact it only reaches 1/218. There are a total of 11 ammunition elevators on the Ford, not 7 or 4 as some self-media said. However, it has been in service for almost 5 years, and only 8 units have passed the acceptance inspection. In order to save money, the Navy plans to reduce the 11 ammunition elevators to 8 units, which means that it is prepared to make do with the 8 units that have passed the acceptance inspection and store the other 3 units. .
Ford's electromagnetic ammunition elevator
In addition, the Ford's dual-band radar mean failure period was designed to be 339 hours, but it was actually only 102 hours, and the supplier of the integrated radio frequency mast has gone bankrupt. The main generator set also failed, resulting in the loss of one generator set for a long time. The propulsion main shaft of the power system failed and has been repaired. However, the maintenance costs have not yet been settled and are still being debated.
USS Ford aircraft carrier
What’s even more fatal is that the USS Ford’s close-in defense system has failed all three tests so far, malfunctioned many times, and in some cases even failed to work. Even if the near-defense system passes acceptance, it will not be able to effectively defend against the threats of supersonic and subsonic stealth anti-ship missiles unless it is equipped with electromagnetic gun and laser interceptor in the future. At present, the combat deployment time of the aircraft carrier has been postponed to the autumn of 2022, and it is expected to be further delayed.
The Ford will be equipped with laser cannons in the future.
From a macro perspective, the construction of the Ford cost a total of 14.3 billion U.S. dollars, but the astronomical figure resulted in a "disabled aircraft carrier." It is worth mentioning that because the "Ford" had various malfunctions and needed repairs, the U.S. Navy actually asked the shipyard to remove parts from the "Kennedy" under construction for it to use. This in turn caused the progress of the second ship to be greatly delayed. , and the funding allocation for the No. 3 and No. 4 ships has not yet been determined.
The USS Kennedy became an "organ donor" before it was commissioned.
What everyone is most concerned about is whether the various problems that occurred on the "Ford" will happen again on the "Fujian"? Does the problem of electromagnetic catapult exist on every aircraft carrier? There is no need to worry about this, because our electromagnetic ejection system is different from that of the US military. It is said to use a medium-voltage DC motor, and the energy storage device is more advanced and reliable. At the same time, it has also conducted more ejections on land than the United States. Take-off test, so we catch up from behind, the Fujian ship may form combat effectiveness earlier than the "Ford".
USS Ford
