Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) said its Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division received a $113m contract from the U.S. Navy to continue ship and propulsion plant design engineering and engineering services for the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). "This award allows us to continue focusing our efforts on what we do best, and that's designing and building superior warships," said Mike Shawcross, NNS' vice president for John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). "We are very pleased to continue preparing for the construction of John F. Kennedy. This funding will allow us to capture lessons learned from Gerald R. Ford and apply them to the next ship in the class to most efficiently and cost-effectively build this great ship for our nation."
John F. Kennedy is the second ship in the Gerald R. Ford class, the Navy's latest class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The ship's first steel was cut in December 2010. Once a construction contract is awarded, the current schedule provides for full construction on John F. Kennedy to begin in early 2013 with delivery to the U.S. Navy scheduled for 2020.