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The mission of the CVN 78 Program is to conceptualize,
design, build, test and deliver a state-of-the-art aircraft
carrier that meets operational requirements of the United
States Navy and results in specified reductions in acquisition
costs, manning and weight while enhancing operational capabilities.
Ford Class Design
Northrop Grumman is designing the Ford class using
the most technologically advanced systems in the shipbuilding
industry:
- CATIA (Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional
Interactive Application) - a software package that allows
manufacturers to simulate all the industrial design processes,
from the pre-project phase through detailed design, analysis,
simulation, assembly and maintenance
- CAVE (Computer-Aided Virtual Environment)
- a 3D immersive environment tool for viewing certain areas
of the CVN 21 CATIA product model and for refinement of
the construction strategy
Innovations for the Ford class include:
- Enhanced flight deck with increased sortie rates
- Allowance for future technologies
- Improved weapons movement that will more than double the
capacity to produce and deliver smart munitions over that
of the Nimitz-class design
- Reduced manning by 30 percent, which correspondingly increases
deployment availability by 25 percent
- The largest electrical power production of any ship in
the U.S. Navy, greater than two and a half times the electrical
power of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier
- Design costs and new technology insertion are approximately
$5.6 billion spread over the class
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