US Aircraft Carrier – Modular Structure 75% Complete Say HII

Huntington Ingalls Industries announce structural production of aircraft carrier 'Gerald R. Ford' on track for 2015 Navy delivery

Huntington Ingalls Industries has announced that structural production of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is 75 percent complete.

The lead ship in the new class of carriers has been under construction at the company's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division since November 2009. It is on track to meet its scheduled launch in 2013 and delivery to the U.S. Navy in 2015.

Gerald R. Ford is the first in a class of next-generation aircraft carriers. It features a new nuclear power plant, a redesigned island, electromagnetic catapults, improved weapons movement, an enhanced flight deck capable of increased aircraft sortie rates, and growth margin for future technologies and reduced manning.

The first piece of the aircraft carrier flight deck was erected April 7. The 717-metric ton unit includes combat systems and electronics spaces.

Gerald R. Ford is being built using modular construction, a process where smaller sections of the ship are welded together to form large structural units, outfitting is installed, and the large unit is lifted into the dry dock. Of the 495 total structural lifts needed to complete the ship, 372 have been accomplished.

About 958 feet of the ship's total 1,098-foot length is in dry dock, and the ship has been built up to the flight deck, which is about 100 feet above the baseline. About 32,000 tons of the Gerald R. Ford's total steel weight of 48,000 tons is currently in the dry dock.