Catapult Systems News

President Donald Trump addressed the more than 10,000 people attending the ceremony where the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), was commissioned on Saturday, July 22 in Norfolk, Va. “Wherever this vessel cuts through the horizon, our allies will rest easy and our enemies will shake with fear because everyone will know that America is coming and America is coming strong,” said Trump. Acting Secretary of the Navy Sean Stackley recalled President Theodore Roosevelt, who used to say, “Walk softly, and carry a big stick.” Stackley then turned to Trump and said, “Mr.

U.S. shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding division has begun testing the updated catapult systems aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), which is nearing the end of its midlife refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH). Working with the Navy crew aboard Abraham Lincoln, Newport News shipbuilders are testing the steam catapult systems through a process called “no-load” testing, during which the overhauled components in the catapult systems are operated with steam for the first time. See the video here.

Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding places a record 1,026-metric ton unit —aboard aircraft carrier 'Gerald R. Ford' (CVN 78). The modular unit, — roughly the weight of six Boeing 747 commercial airplanes, is one of the nearly 500 total structural lifts needed to complete the ship, of which 435 have been completed. The lifts are accomplished using the shipyard's 1,050-metric-ton gantry crane, one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere. "This is the heaviest unit to be moved during the ship's construction and the largest lift our crane has ever made…

Former President George H.W. Bush, prepares to signal the launch of two "dead loads" off the flight deck of the Precommissioning Unit (PCU) George H. W. Bush's (CVN 77). "Dead Load" launches test the ship's catapult systems ability to launch aircraft. The ship is under construction at Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipyard. U.S. From Pre-Commissioning Unit George H. Marking a milestone in the construction of the U.S. Navy's newest aircraft carrier, Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) George H.