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Navy/USMC

Final Ford Weapons Elevator Finished

Thursday, December 23rd, 2021

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Final Ford Weapons Elevator Finished

A Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding engineer grinds in USS Gerald R. Ford's (CVN-78) Lower Stage Weapons Elevator 1 on July 18, 2020, during final days prior to certification. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

The 11th and final Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE) aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) was completed and turned over to the ship’s crew on December 22. The long-delayed elevators are one of the technical issues that has driven costs up on CVN-78, the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier. The AWEs are a new technology that use electromagnetic motors and are designed to move ordnance through the ship more quickly with enhanced carrying capacity as well as reduced manning, maintenance and…

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