HII completes first planned incremental availability for USS Gerald R. Ford
Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) departs HII's Newport News Shipbuilding division on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022 after its planned incremental availability. (Photo: HII)
USS Gerald R. Ford will embark on its first deployment in late 2022.
On 1 March, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced its Newport News Shipbuilding division had completed the first planned incremental availability (PIA) for the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
The PIA involved six months of modernisation and maintenance work to ensure the carrier has the most ‘current’ upgrades ahead of its planned maiden deployment this year.
PIA began in September 2021 following full ship shock trials and a post-delivery testing and trials period.
Three further Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, the future USS John F. Kennedy, Enterprise, and Doris Miller, are currently under construction and Newport News Shipbuilding.
The shipyard is also conducting mid-life refuelling complex overhauls on two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, USS George Washington and John C. Stennis, – giving the ships another 25 years of service.
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