
The Office of the Secretary of Defense approved an agreement in December between the Navy and Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] to buy two Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers at once, CVN-80 and 81. CVN-80 is the future USS Enterprise while CVN-81 is not yet named. They will be the third and fourth Ford-class carriers. The Navy expects savings of upward of $4 billion total, significantly higher than previous estimates. These savings accrue compared to buying the two vessels separately. Previously,…