Ford Delayed

Navy Times website reports that the USS Ford's launch date will be delayed from summer of this year to November 2013 with delivery slipping to mid-2016.  Schedules always slip and the Navy is notorious for missing deadlines so look for the delivery to slip into 2017.  Remember, the Navy obtained a temporary waiver to allow the carrier force to drop to 10, one below the legally mandated 11, until the Ford can replace the Enterprise.  The current force of 10 translates to 8-9 active and available with two currently being unavailable due to mid-life refueling and overhauls.