Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) received a $504 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract extension to continue engineering work associated with construction of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
The company's Newport News Shipbuilding division is the prime contractor. Work performed under the contract includes the continuation of design-related activities and integration and system analysis for non-propulsion plant work.
"This contract allows the company to complete the Gerald R. Ford class design and planning activities in support of the ship's construction," said Mike Shawcross, vice president, Gerald R. Ford class engineering and John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) construction. "The Ford's structure is nearly 50 percent erected in our No. 12 dry dock, and construction continues on schedule for delivery in 2015."
Gerald R. Ford, the lead ship in the new class of carriers, has been under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding since her keel laying in November 2009. The Ford class continues the legacy of highly capable U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The new class includes a redesigned island and an improved flight deck and weapons handling systems, all resulting in increased aircraft sortie generation rates. The ship will also include newly designed nuclear power plants, increased electrical power generation capacity, allowance for future technologies and reduced workload for the sailors, which translates to a smaller crew size and reduced operating costs for the Navy.
Gerald R. Ford is on track to meet its scheduled launch in 2013 and delivery to the U.S. Navy in 2015. An estimated 5,000 shipbuilders, including design, engineering, planning and construction, are working on the ship today. As with all aircraft carriers built by Newport News Shipbuilding, suppliers from more than 40 states across the nation, representing more than 24,000 jobs, are contributing to Gerald R. Ford's construction.