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US Navy pulls parts off an under-construction aircraft carrier to get USS Gerald R. Ford ready to deploy
The Navy said it is stripping parts from another carrier to ready the Ford, which is expected to be ready for operational use next year.
Science & Tech
The US Navy is pulling parts off a new aircraft carrier that is still under construction to get the first ship of the service's new class of carriers ready for deployment, USNI News reported Monday evening.
Shipyard workers are stripping parts from USS John F. Kennedy, the second Ford-class carrier being built at by Huntington Ingalls Industries at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, to use on USS Gerald R. Ford.
Examples of parts include HMI screens for stores elevators as well as motor controllers, power supplies, small pumps, limit switches and valve actuators for various systems throughout the ship," Capt. Clay Doss, a spokesman for Navy acquisitions, told USNI News.
He said that while this practice is not uncommon, it will occur less frequently as naval supply support systems mature.
Doss explained to USNI News that cannibalization "occurred only after confirming the parts or materials were not available in the supply system and/or that alternate sources were not available," adding that replacement plans were made in each case and "none of the parts transferred to CVN 78 are projected to impact the CVN 79 construction schedule."
Naval Sea Systems Command told the naval news outlet that "cannibalizations are being used as part of the process to augment readiness of CVN 78."