NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — The U.S. Navy has given an undefinitized contract award to Huntington Ingalls Industries to change the delivery strategy of the John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier currently under construction in Newport News.
The contract changes the delivery method from a two-phase delivery to one-phase.
The shipyard has been working on “extensive collaboration” with the Navy to “support legislative requirements” for the ship — the second in the Gerald R. Ford-class of carriers — to be delivered with its complete warfare system before it’s commissioned into the fleet, Huntington Ingalls wrote in a news release Monday.
This contract action carries a potential value up to $315 million and gives initial funding for the procurement of long-lead material and planning.
The contract action is also expected to be definitized in 2021.
The Kennedy is about three-quarters complete.
The ship was launched in December and is now going through additional outfitting and testing at Newport News Shipbuilding.
It is slated to be delivered to the Navy in 2024.
“We are pleased to have worked with the Navy to adopt lessons learned in the construction of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) to improve cost, production and planning efficiencies on Kennedy,” said Lucas Hicks, Newport News’ vice president of new construction aircraft carrier programs. “We believe that the single-phase approach ensures the most effective build plan for all remaining work and provides the best value for the Navy by supporting its ability to accelerate operational deployment of this maritime force asset.”
Shipbuilding officials also previously told WAVY News the Kennedy is now 16 percent cheaper to build, thanks to lessons learned from the first Ford-class carrier.
Ford-class aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered and include changes on the flight deck, better weapons-handling systems and a redesigned island.
“The Ford-class also features new nuclear power plants, increased electrical power-generation capacity, allowance for future technologies, and reduced workload for sailors, translating to a smaller crew size and reduced operating costs for the Navy,” the shipyard wrote in the news release.