Despite fire, lengthy deployment, Navy expects only six-month maintenance for USS Ford

WASHINGTON — Despite the USS Gerald R Ford pushing through a record-setting deployment that included a fire aboard, the Navy still plans to handle those repairs in a six-month period, according to Norfolk Naval Shipyard Commander Rear Adm. Kavon Hakimzadah.

In July, the Ford began a planned incremental availability (PIA) at Norfolk Naval Shipyard to cover maintenance and modernization initiatives. The service is concurrently launching a second availability to repair damage from the fire that broke out aboard the ship in March. 

“Gerald R. Ford, sitting in our shipyard right now, we had a planned incremental availability in place [for] six months,” Hakimzadah said during a roundtable on Monday. “It was 10 months, I promised the Fleet commander we could do it in six months. So we set that in place while she was on deployment before she had a fire…I’m still going to deliver that ship back in six months, but we’ve set up a second availability that is overseen by the regional maintenance center with a commercial partner, with a commercial vendor, that is running that availability.”

Hakimzadah said that although there could be some “follow up” and “clean up” at the end to support the ship’s company, he believes the Navy will deliver the ship in six months.

The Ford returned to Naval Station Norfolk in May, after remaining at sea for a total of 326 days as part of a historic deployment. The deployment broke the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln’s previous record of 294 days at sea in 2019 and 2020 for the longest deployment since the Vietnam War era, according to a USNI News carrier database tracking flattop deployments.

While underway, the carrier operated in US Southern Command as part of the Trump administration’s naval buildup in the region ahead of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s ouster in January. The ship then shifted to supporting operations in the Middle East, including Operation Epic Fury, with the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. 

Following the extended time at sea, Navy officials had previously signaled that the ship could face additional maintenance, in comparison to a carrier that completed a standard, seven-month deployment. 

“For every 30 days that the ship is extended on deployment, it adds 6 percent of maintenance, so five months extra would add 30 percent for maintenance,” Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao told lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee in May. 

Even so, Hakimzedah said in a statement in July after the Ford’s PIA kicked off that he expected that the Ford would follow the footsteps of carriers Dwight D Eisenhower and George HW Bush, which both completed a PIA at Norfolk Naval Shipyard and that the Navy says were conducted ahead of schedule.

The Navy did not share exact specifics regarding the PIA timeline for the Ford in July, but PIAs are usually planned to last between six to eight months.