The USS Gerald R. Ford is one of, if not the largest and most problematic investment in the US Navy, where cleaning toilets is an expensive pleasure.

After nearly 14 years of development, construction and repair, the US Navy’s last aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, also known as a technological marvel, is ready for use. Interesting geometry.

Construction of the monster began in 2009 and was originally scheduled to be completed in 2017 (i.e. ready for active service). However, the development of the ship was further and further delayed due to a series of failures. Completion of work was hampered mainly by anomalies in new technological solutions, and since the army had little experience in this direction, the repair also took longer. (Aircraft carriers are usually built within five years.)

However, Gerald Ford had other problems. The Jalopnik He wrote two years ago that one of the biggest crabs on a nuclear-powered ship could keep toilets clean. The vessel is equipped with a drainage system that is cleaned regularly by acid rinsing.

The cost of this can reach up to 400 thousand dollars, or about 140 million forints.

Of course, with a ship of this size, it should come as no surprise, as the Ford could accommodate up to 4,000 people at a time. By the way, the engineers in their report at that time mentioned the possibility of rebuilding the system, although this was not at all easy. This is because replacement would have required redesigning the entire system, which would have been another expense – while development costs have already exceeded the total amount of the project.

With the exception of the toilets, the ship is considered the most dangerous toy for the Navy to date, which can be explained, among other things, by the dual-band radar system and electromagnetic “slingshots”. The latter helps aircraft take off and land without hindrances. However, development didn’t go smoothly here either, and it only took about five years to fix it and get it back to normal operation.

The battleship will be the first Ford-class aircraft carrier to replace the current Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. USS Ford will ship more than 70 aircraft, including 40-50 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

The billions of dollars spent on construction do not include the cost of maintaining the ship.

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