According to a PR published by HII on July 11, 2022, America’s only builder of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and leading provider of mission-driven defense technologies, announced that its Newport News Shipbuilding division has reached a significant milestone in the compartment and systems construction of aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79).
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Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (Picture source: U.S. Navy)
Newport News recently turned over to the ship’s crew the 1,000th compartment of the 2,615 total spaces. The milestone reflects the shipyard’s steady progress toward delivery of the ship to the Navy. Newport News has also installed more than 9.8 million feet of cable, or more than 1,800 miles, of the approximately 10.5 million feet of cable on John F. Kennedy.
The most recently completed spaces include electrical and engineering. This allows sailors assigned to the pre-commissioning unit to increase training on the ship while final outfitting and testing progress.
John F. Kennedy, the second in the Ford-class, is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2024. Two other Ford-class aircraft carriers are currently under construction at Newport News: Enterprise (CVN 80) and Doris Miller (CVN 81).
The Ford-class aircraft carriers are the first to be designed 100% digitally. Although the ships were designed in a digital environment, paper drawings are still used during the construction process.
John F. Kennedy represents a transition to a new digital construction process, with shipbuilders beginning to use visual work instructions on laptops and tablets rather than paper drawings. Enterprise will be the first carrier totally built using digital tools.
Ford-class enhancements incorporated into the design include flight deck changes, improved weapons handling systems, and a redesigned island, all resulting in increased aircraft sortie-generation rates.
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 smaller crew size and reduced operating costs for the Navy.
Construction processes on Ford-class carriers are enabled by workforce learning that took place on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and those lessons are being applied throughout the Ford class.
The armament of the USS Gerald R. Ford-class consists of two RIM-162 ESSM launchers, two RIM-116 RAM, three Phalanx CIWS, and four M2 .50 Cal. (12.7 mm) machine guns.
