The Navy yesterday awarded Northrop Grumman [NOC] Shipbuilding Newport News a $5.1 billion contract to build the next-generation aircraft carrier CVN- 78, the Gerald R. Ford.
Under this contract, Northrop Grumman will complete the detail design and construction of CVN-78, which includes engineering; integration; related development efforts including drawing and work package development; advanced planning; design weight estimate; life cycle support products and related logistics data; production planning; test and evaluation; further definition of initiatives to reduce CVN-78 class total ownership costs; and data necessary to support construction of CVN-78, according to the Navy.
Work is expected to be completed by September 2015, according to the Navy.
CVN-78 is the Navy’s first major investment in aircraft carrier design in more than three decades and features many improvements over the 1960’s Nimitz-class design. CVN-78 includes a new flight deck with an improved weapons handling system, advanced arresting gear, a completely re-engineered Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System, new and simplified nuclear propulsion plants, a new electrical power generation system and reconfigurable design architecture, the Navy said
CVN-78 was officially named Gerald R. Ford by the Secretary of the Navy in January 2007 and will be constructed in Newport News, Va. The keel is scheduled to be laid in late 2009, and the ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2015. The Navy plans to build 11 Ford-class aircraft carriers, and construction of Ford-class aircraft carriers is projected to continue through 2058.