Navy awards $3.4 billion contract to Huntington Ingalls to build Ford-class aircraft carrier

WASHINGTON, 8 June 2015. U.S. Navy leaders are following through with production of the nation's second Ford-class aircraft carrier -- the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) -- which when it is commissioned in 2020 will be the world's most modern aircraft carrier.

Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington on Friday awarded a $3.4 billion contract to Huntington Ingalls Inc. in Newport News, Va., for all remaining detail design and construction (DD&C) efforts in building the Kennedy.

The CVN 79 vessel will be the second carrier named for the 35th president of the United States. Construction began on the ship last year, and when it's finished in 2018 it will have cost an estimated $12.8 billion. The ship is expected to enter service in 2022, and may replace the carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68).

The nuclear-powered Kennedy will be 1,106 feet long -- nearly four football fields long -- and will displace about 1,000 long tons. It will have two nuclear reactors and four huge propellers.

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The ship will be 134 feet wide, will be able to move faster than 30 knots and have a crew of 4,660. It will be able to accommodate as many as 90 Navy aircraft.

Friday's contract will provide all design and construction services and material for the construction of CVN 79, including research studies; engineering; design; development; detail design and procurement of material; construction; life cycle support; and logistics data.

Aircraft carriers continue to be the centerpiece of U.S. forward-deployed military forces. Its aircraft can attack enemy air, sea, and land forces, perform maritime security, interdict threats to merchant shipping, prevent maritime terrorism and piracy.

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The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the first vessel of the Ford-class carriers, is under construction and should be finished next year. The Navy plans to build 10 Ford-class carriers, which will augment and eventually replace the nation's 10 Nimitz-class carriers.

The Kennedy and other Ford-class carriers are being designed to accommodate catapult-launched versions of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighters, the F-35C. The Kennedy will have a 50-year life span and should remain in service at least until 2072.

On Friday's contract Huntington Ingalls will do the work in Newport News, Va., and should be finished by 2022. For more information contact Huntington Ingalls online at www.huntingtoningalls.com, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.