Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The first accuracy test of a new range of electrical sensors on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford was a success, the U.S. Navy announced Wednesday.
A Sensor Accuracy Test team of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport NATO Naval Forces Weapon and Sensor Accuracy Check Site in Rhode Island executed a successful sensor accuracy test on the ship, the first in a new class of aircraft carriers, the Naval Sea Systems Command said in a statement.
All of the ship's bearing, range and heading accuracy of shipboard sensors, including radars, sonars, gyrocompasses, electronic warfare systems, electro-optical/laser tracking systems and navigation were tested.
A test was conducted at Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia, followed by an at-sea test at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center in the Bahamas, in anticipation of the vessel's expected deployment in 2021. Since it is the lead ship of a new class of aircraft carriers, the equipment had not yet been tested, and the U.S. Naval Sea Systems command mandates sensor accuracy tests for all new ships.
"The expertise and professionalism of the dozens of ship's force personnel aboard CVN 78 [the USS Gerald R. Ford] who supported data acquisition and planning, particularly the systems test officer, was amazing," said test director Mark Gelzinis. "Their support was invaluable to the success of this sensor accuracy evaluation. The success of the test also proved the value of beginning the planning process as early as possible, maintaining detailed documentation through the planning process and involving the right people from the earliest stages."
The ship is the first of a new class of carriers intended to replace the Nimitz class. Its construction was slowed by cost overruns and delays, notably problems with its electromagnetic elevators.
