Ramona Adams
The U.S. Navy will conduct acceptance trials of its future USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier at sea before the end of May, USNI News reported Thursday.
Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley told reporters at the U.S. Naval Institute’s annual meeting that the service branch currently works to address issues identified during the carrier’s builders trials before sending the ship back to sea.
Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ Newport News Shipbuilding division built the service branch’s first Ford-class carrier and completed builder’s sea trials in February.
Stackley added the Navy expects to accept delivery of the ship shortly after the acceptance trials, depending on any deficiencies identified during the tests.
The Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey will oversee the trials to determine if the Ford’s systems are working and the crew is ready to operate the ship at sea, the report stated.
