Navy

Advance fabrication

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) was awarded a $25.5 million modification to an existing advance planning contract in support of advance fabrication of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80) on Tuesday, February 01, 2017. The initial structural fabrication and shop work on the third Gerald R. Ford-class carrier will be performed at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division through March 2018.

Rendering of the third ship in the Gerald R. Ford-class of aircraft carriers, USS Enterprise (CVN-80)
Rendering of the third ship in the Gerald R. Ford-class of aircraft carriers, USS Enterprise (CVN-80)

«This award authorizes us to begin fabrication of structural components, sub-components, sub-units and pre-assemblies in our manufacturing shops to support the 2018 construction of Enterprise», said Mike Shawcross, Newport News’ vice president, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) and USS Enterprise (CVN-80) construction. «This is an important step in getting this next Gerald R. Ford-class ship off to a great start, as it allows us to continue implementation of lessons learned, and the initial steel work will allow us to utilize our aircraft carrier steel production line in an efficient manner».

Huntington Ingalls Industries shipbuilders have captured thousands of lessons learned and developed new build approaches during construction of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), most of which are being implemented as cost-saving initiatives in building the second ship in the class, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79). These initiatives will also apply to USS Enterprise (CVN-80), and Huntington Ingalls Industries will work with the U.S. Navy to identify additional cost-saving initiatives for future Ford-class carrier construction.

 

General Characteristics

Builder Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia
Propulsion 2 A1B nuclear reactors, 4 shafts
Length 1,092 feet/333 m
Beam 134 feet/41 m
Flight Deck Width 256 feet/78 m
Flight Deck Square 217,796 feet2/20,234 m2
Displacement approximately 100,000 long tons full load
Speed 30+ knots/34.5+ mph/55.5+ km/h
Crew 4,539 (ship, air wing and staff)
Armament ESSM (Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile), RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile), Mk-15 Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapon System)
Aircraft 75+

 

Ships

Ship Laid down Launched Commissioned Homeport
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) 11-13-2009 11-09-2013
USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) 08-22-2015
USS Enterprise (CVN-80)