Scott Nicholas
Huntington Ingalls Industries has kicked off the construction of the U.S. Navy‘s third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division in Virginia.
The company said Thursday that it cut a 35-ton steel plate as part of the construction of USS Enterprise (CVN 80), the ninth Navy ship to bear its name.
“We will build more of this ship indoors, in new facilities so that our people have more opportunities to work under cover and out of the weather,” said Jennifer Boykin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding.
“[CVN 80] will be built using digital technology rather than traditional paper work packages and drawings.”
HII secured a potential $152 million contract from the Navy in May 2016 to design, research, develop and engineer the nuclear-powered Enterprise aircraft carrier.
Sponsors of the ship attended the ceremonial steel-cutting event alongside Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia), Rear Adm. Brian Antonio, program executive officer for aircraft carriers, and U.S. Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky.
