LowObservableAnd say what you like about UK industry, but they seem to have done much better on the QEs than the US has done on Ford.
Why so much better LO? It seems both projects are late and overbudget. I would offer that the Ford is pushing the envelope quite a bit more than the QE's, with a totally new electrical handling system, extensively updated reactor plants, EMAL catapults, new arresting sytem, state of the art C4I systems that will be fully linked to the air and battle group, reduced manning systems, etc etc. None of this is easy, and none of it cheap. Both teams have major challenges- the experince challenge with the QE's that Engines pointed out so well and Newport News and team with desinging and integrating so many new things for the first time. She really is an entirely new class- and certainly much more than a "big box with a hangar"....
A brand new 100,000 ton CATOBAR nuclear powered, steam driven, carrier class with state of the art/cutting edge systems has some real challenges and risks. The QE has challenges as well, but is a less complicated ship, with proven main prime movers, a proven C4I system and no cats/traps. So did the QE team really do "much better"?