Crucial landing equipment for the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier is still not ready for prime time after more than a decade of development, and has already cost taxpayers more than $743 million.
The Navy wanted new technology for catching planes when they land on the deck of the new aircraft carrier, but after numerous technical failures, software flaws and, above all, mismanagement, the Navy now has to consider whether the program is worth continuing at all. It is currently $572 million over budget.
The Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) system developed for the USS Gerald Ford is “not sufficiently mature for the planned use,” according to a report from the Pentagon’s Inspector General.
General Atomics, the company hired by the Navy in 2005 to develop the AAG system, has faced numerous technical challenges in creating the new equipment. But Pentagon blames the Navy’s program management team for failing to keep the project on schedule and within budget.
The Navy agreed with the Inspector General’s analysis, stating that the system needs more testing before it’s ready. “Reliability of the system is uncertain until significantly more reliability data is obtained,” the Navy said in a response included in the report.
The system was tested on land, and the Navy is confident the technology will be ready for testing onboard the ship soon. Project managers said in 2014 the system would not be ready by the time the USS Gerald Ford begins sea trials in Sept. 2016. Now, the Pentagon is worried that the delays will push that timeline back even further.
Tests on the AAG were supposed to finish in 2009, but most of the system was redesigned, which delayed the timeline. If the Pentagon continues investing in the project, the tests likely won’t be complete until 2018.
The report suggested the Navy look at whether the new system “is an affordable solution for Navy aircraft carriers before deciding to go forward with the system on future aircraft carriers.”
The Senate is also concerned about the over-budget system, and members of the Armed Services Committee have asked the Pentagon for a full report on whether the project is necessary. In a provision to the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act requires a review of the AAG to determine if it’s necessary. If the NDAA is passed into law, the Pentagon will have to prove that the AAG is necessary to the aircraft carrier and no suitable alternative exists.
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