By Tony Capaccio

(Bloomberg) — The USS Gerald R. Ford — the Navy’s latest plane service and the most expensive U.S. warship at $12.9 billion — received’t be delivered till at the very least November, greater than two years late.

“During the ongoing testing of developmental systems” on the service constructed by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., “first-of-class issues are continuing to be resolved,” based on a Navy assertion supplied Tuesday to Bloomberg News. “The current estimated delivery date is in November 2016. If additional issues arise during the remaining shipboard testing, that date may need to be revised.”

The service didn’t elaborate on the unresolved points inflicting the delay besides to say that testing is continuous for “the propulsion plant steam and electric systems,” that are powered by the service’s nuclear reactor. The newest schedule slip of at the very least two months could delay the Navy’s return to an 11-carrier fleet, the quantity mandated by Congress. The service has operated 10 carriers for the reason that retirement of the USS Enterprise in 2012. Extended deployments of the remaining ships have positioned stress on crews, the service has mentioned.

Huntington fell 0.4 p.c to $173.21 at 2:07 p.m. New York time.

Spending Cap

The Navy didn’t say what affect, if any, the persevering with testing points and newest supply delay could have on the vessel’s value. The value of the service, often known as CVN-78, is capped by regulation at $12.9 billion, underneath actions taken by Congress in 2006 after which modified in 2013 after this system’s value had elevated 22 p.c since 2010. The Gerald Ford is the primary of a three-carrier class estimated to value $42 billion.

“This situation is unacceptable and was entirely preventable,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain mentioned in an e-mail. “The Ford-class program is a case study in why our acquisition system must be reformed –- unrealistic business cases, poor cost estimates, new systems rushed to production, concurrent design and construction, and problems testing systems to demonstrate promised capability.”

“Even if everything goes according to the Navy’s plan, CVN-78 will be delivered with” unproven techniques, such because the arresting system to snag planes as they land, mentioned McCain, an Arizona Republican.

Largely Complete

The Navy mentioned Newport News, Virginia-based Huntington Ingalls is performing nicely because the shipbuilder. Many of the applied sciences put in on the first-of-class service are produced by different firms. As of final month, the ship’s building is 98 p.c full, the Navy mentioned. Huntington Ingalls has turned over 97 p.c of the service’s compartments and 89 p.c of shipboard testing has been accomplished, the Navy mentioned.

The Navy initially mentioned the Gerald Ford can be delivered in September 2014, then delayed that to September 2015. As that deadline neared, the Navy introduced a “slight deterioration in the required progress” of shipboard testing that might delay supply past March 31. Then, the Pentagon pegged supply for this September in its annual “Selected Acquisition Report” on main weapons issued in March.

‘Significant Progress’

In the assertion on the newest delay, the Navy cited “significant progress” with the electromagnetic system for launching plane, the multimission high-powered radar and the brand new deck system to catch touchdown plane, referred to as “the advanced arresting gear.” It’s the identical system the Pentagon’s inspector basic criticized in an audit on July 8. The arresting gear is made by closely-held General Atomics primarily based in San Diego.

“Ten years after the program entered” its engineering and manufacturing part, “the Navy has not been able to prove the capability or safety of the system to a level that would permit actual testing” throughout deck landings “because of hardware failures and software challenges,” the inspector basic mentioned.

General Atomics spokeswoman Meghan Ehlke referred all feedback on the inspector basic’s audit to the Navy.

Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley mentioned in written feedback that he partially agreed with the inspector basic and mentioned the service was finding out whether or not to retain current techniques on subsequent Ford-class carriers. At McCain’s insistence, funds for the arresting gear have been restricted within the fiscal 2017 finances till a proper assessment of the system is undertaken.

“The Navy concurs that the system is not yet ready to test on an aircraft carrier and that the technology was not sufficiently mature for use on CVN-78,” Stackley wrote.

© 2016 Bloomberg L.P