The Navy believes the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford (CVN-78), the first carrier of its class, will be able to meet its sortie generation rate requirement following testing last summer, Rear Adm. James Downey, the program executive officer for aircraft carriers, told reporters Friday. Sortie generation rate measures the number of aircraft the carrier can launch and recover for missions. Then-Director of Operational Test and Evaluation Robert Behler wrote in his fiscal year 2020 report that it is unlikely that the...
