HII gets $152 million for CVN 80 advanced planning

USS Enterprise (CVN 80)

MAY 23, 2016 — Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, VA, is being awarded a $152,005,409 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for initial advance procurement efforts in support of the fiscal 2018 detail design and construction of nuclear powered aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN 80), the third aircraft carrier in the Gerald R. Ford class.  

Initial advance procurement efforts include integrated design, research and development, engineering, and procurement of long lead time materials.

The design and construction of a nuclear powered aircraft carrier requires highly technical and specialized knowledge of the ship’s mission, design, systems, and nuclear reactor plants.

The Department of Defense says that Huntington Ingalls is the sole U.S. designer and builder of nuclear powered aircraft carriers and has developed a unique capability encompassing all aspects of aircraft carrier design, construction, modernization, repair, and technical and engineering support that, because of its uniqueness, cannot be acquired elsewhere.

Work will be performed in Newport News, VA, and is expected to be completed by March 2018.  Fiscal 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2016 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $29,708,000 will be obligated at time of award and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Construction on Enterprise is slated to begin in 2018 with delivery to the Navy in 2027. The new Enterprise will eventually replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) when the aircraft carrier enters the fleet.

“We are eager to begin planning and purchasing long-lead-time material for the next Enterprise,” said Mike Shawcross, Newport News’ vice president of CVN 79 and CVN 80 construction. “Advance planning allows us to begin applying lessons learned from CVN 78 and CVN 79 more effectively, while providing stability to our workforce and the industrial base, in order to deliver the ship at the lowest cost possible.”

Huntington Ingalls says that shipbuilders have captured thousands of lessons learned in the process of building Gerald R. Ford, most of which are being implemented as cost-saving initiatives in building the second ship in the class, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). These initiatives will continue on Enterprise, and the company will work with the Navy to identify additional cost-saving initiatives for future Ford-class carrier construction.

This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) – only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024 16-C-2116).