Eye On Innovation: Drone Flights Take to the Skies for USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) Inspections

When a demand signal rose for assistance with inspections for USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) alongside Naval Facilities (NAVFAC) Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (EXWC) partnered with the CVN 69 team and Naval Station Norfolk (NSN) to take to the skies with drone flights.

This initiative started from a recommendation from CVN 69 Deputy Project Superintendent Bryan Ambler, who expressed interest with the idea from a previous drone inspection on the CVN 69’s exhaust system in 2022. After seeing the value of the drone flights as well as wanting to remove barriers like scaffolding that had previously obscured areas for inspection – he sought out assistance from NNSY’s Command Transformation Office New Technologies Branch (Code 100TO.31).

“The planning began instantly for our team. Through a lot of deliberation on what group was going to be the pilot for these inspections, we determined that since NNSY’s drone program was still in its infancy, we requested aid from NAVFAC EXWC,” said Aerospace Engineer Devin Lee. “We, alongside NAVFAC EXWC, CVN 69, groups across NSN, and NNSY’s Engineering and Planning Department [Surface Ship Structural Planning Branch] (Code 256) came together as a team.”

Code 100TO.31 provided the safety equipment and several safety observers, as well as managed the data collected from the flight. Code 256 provided oversight as the lead inspectors, watching over the pilot’s shoulders throughout the duration of the flight and directing which points of interest needed to be viewed. NAVFAC EXWC also provided observers on site as well as the pilot for the drone, Electronics Engineering Technician Gary R. Baumbeck, Jr.

“We were able to launch our drone and observe various points on the exterior of the ship, areas that would be hard to see with binoculars,” said Baumbeck, Jr. “We were looking for any defects or major rust areas as part of a pre-inspection before the ship got into the dry dock. Through our work, we were able to complete work in eight hours that previously took more than 1,600 manhours to accomplish.”

He continued, “this job was able to be done thanks to some amazing partnerships with the ship, NAVFAC EXWC, NNSY, and NSN. Everyone came together and worked in unison to make this evolution as seamless as possible. It’s great to have that cooperation and coordination and I hope this partnership can continue well into the future as we continue to bring technologies like drones into our work.”

“I do think that on this small level flight, this was a game changer for us because of the significant amount of savings on manhours and cost due to the lower requirements to fly a drone rather than build scaffolding and schedule barges, etc.,” said Lee. “It also results in a more thorough inspection than what was done before – such as looking at things through binoculars from the pier. These flights proved not only that it’s worth it but it’s something we can actually do. We were able to utilize this innovative technology, work together with NAVFAC EXWC, NSN and CVN 69 and get it into the sky to perform inspections for us in one of the most challenging environments there is. I think that it showed us the immense potential we have with drones and robotics as our native program matures.”

Lee continued, “A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this happen, from my team in Code 100TO.31, NAVFAC EXWC, NSN, CVN 69, Code 256 and NNSY Operations Department (Code 300). Everyone played a major part in making this happen, willing to go above and beyond to make sure we all met the deadline for this project.”

“Our mission is servicing the fleet and we must do so to the very best of our abilities. Every hour we spend working on these vessels directly impacts the Navy’s ability to defend our nation so it’s imperative that we are all working together to do our part,” said Ambler. “Being able to partner with these teams, embrace technological innovations, and work together to complete these inspections in record time with accuracy and precision is a huge win for us and our CVN 69 team is extremely grateful to everyone for helping make this happen.”

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