{"id":20915,"date":"2020-07-23T16:48:20","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T16:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/07\/23\/the-us-navy-is-making-progress-on-the-carrier-fords-bedeviling-weapons-elevators\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:52:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:52:44","slug":"the-us-navy-is-making-progress-on-the-carrier-fords-bedeviling-weapons-elevators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/07\/23\/the-us-navy-is-making-progress-on-the-carrier-fords-bedeviling-weapons-elevators\/","title":{"rendered":"US Navy makes progress on aircraft carrier Ford\u2019s bedeviled weapons elevators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Navy is over the halfway mark in certifying the new aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford<\/a>\u2019s 11 advanced weapons elevators, which have been at the center of an ongoing controversy over delays in getting the Navy\u2019s most expensive-ever warship ready for its first deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a news release Thursday, the Navy announced it had certified Lower Stage Weapons Elevator 1, the sixth certified working elevator. LSWE 1 moves bombs from the forward magazine up to a staging area beneath the flight deck, where the weapons are armed and sent to the upper-stage weapons elevators that go to the flight deck. Crews had already certified the elevator that brings bombs from the aft magazine to the staging area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The elevators are designed to reduce the time it takes to get bombs armed and to the flight deck to mount on aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLSWE 5 has given us the capacity to move ordnance from the aft magazine complex deep in the ship through the carrier to the flight deck with a speed and agility that has never been seen before on any warship,\u201d Rear Adm. James Downey, program executive officer for aircraft carriers, said in a statement. \u201cLSWE 1 doubles-down on that capability and ramps up the velocity of flight deck operations. LSWEs 1 and 5 will now operate in tandem, providing a dramatic capability improvement as we proceed toward full combat system certification aboard Ford.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t