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Airfields Afloat: The USA’s New Gerald Ford Class Super-Carriers

May 09, 2013 18:24 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff

Latest update [?]

CVN-21/ Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carrier budgets, 2002-2018

May 8/13: Hearings. The US Senate Armed Forces Seapower subcommittee hears testimony from US Navy officials covering US Navy shipbuilding programs. The prepared statement says that a 2012 affordability review has led to noticeable changes in CVN 79, and lessons learned will lead to higher ship completion percentages at each build stage. An excerpt:

“Inarguably, this new class of aircraft carrier brings forward tremendous capability and life-cycle cost advantages compared to the NIMITZ-class it will replace. However, the design, development and construction efforts required to overcome the technical challenges…. have significantly impacted cost performance on the lead ship. [The detailed review and revised build plan for CVN 78]… will not recover costs to original targets… but should improve performance on the lead ship while fully benefitting CVN 79 and following ships of the class.”

See April 10/13 entry for expected costs per ship, which do decline in real terms for CVN 79-80. The question is whether practice will meet predictions. SASC prepared statement.

May 7/13: CVN 78. HII Newport News hoists the last of 162 primary structure “superlifts” onto CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), a 75 foot long, 66 ton ship catapult forward section.

The lift ends 3 years of structural erection work, and 3 1/2 years since construction began in November 2009. There’s still a lot of work left before the ship is even floated out to begin finishing: hull painting, shafting work, completion of electrical systems, mooring equipment, and installation of radar arrays. HII.

May 6/13: CVN 79. A $60.8 million long lead-time material contract for CVN 79, which began attracting funding in 2009. HII has been working with their suppliers, and HII VP for CVN 79 Mike Shawcross says that this award will help them implement some of those buying initiatives for air conditioning systems, controllers and pumps, etc. Announced CVN 79 construction preparation contracts now stand at $1.865 billion, with the main construction contract expected later in 2013.

Work will be performed in Newport News, VA, and is expected to be complete by October 2015 (N00024-09-C-2116). See also HII.

April 10/13: FY 2014 Budget. The President releases a proposed budget at last, the latest in modern memory. The Senate and House were already working on budgets in his absence, but the Pentagon’s submission is actually important to proceedings going forward. See ongoing DID coverage. The program remains steady, with $1.68 billion requested to fund the 2nd year of construction for CVN 79 John F. Kennedy, and completion costs for CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford.

The FY 2014 budget submission places the $FY13 cost of CVN 78 at $12.829 billion, and the expected cost of CVN 79 at $11.338 billion. CVN 80 is pegged at $13.874 billion (+22.4% vs. CVN 79), but that’s in 2018. Math reminder: just 4.2% inflation, compounded over 2014-2018, is 22.8%.

The above update is a recent abstract from our full article, itself part of our subscription offering. Keep reading to know more.

CV-74 USS Stennis and CV HMS Illustrious

USA’s Nimitz Class &
UK’s Invincible Class
(click to view full)

Some nations have aircraft carriers. The USA has super-carriers. The French Charles De Gaulle Class nuclear carriers displace about 43,000t. India’s new Vikramaditya/ Admiral Gorshkov Class will have a similar displacement. The future British CVF Queen Elizabeth Class and related French PA2 Project are expected to displace about 65,000t, while the British Invincible Class carriers that participated in the Falklands War weigh in at just 22,000t. Invincible actually compares well to Italy’s excellent new Cavour Class (27,000t), and Spain’s Principe de Asturias Class (17,000t). The USA’s Nimitz Class and CVN-21 Gerald R. Ford Class, in contrast, fall in the 90,000+ tonne range. Hence their unofficial designation: “super-carriers”. Just one of these ships packs a more potent air force than many nations.

Nimitz Class cutaway
(click to view full)

As the successor to the 102,000 ton Nimitz Class super-carriers, the CVN-21 program aimed to increase aircraft sortie generation rates by 20%, increase survivability to better handle future threats, require fewer sailors, and have depot maintenance requirements that could support an increase of up to 25% in operational availability. The combination of a new design nuclear propulsion plant and an improved electric plant are expected to provide 2-3 times the electrical generation capacity of previous carriers, which in turn enables systems like an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS, replacing steam-driven catapults), Advanced Arresting Gear, and integrated combat electronics that will leverage advances in open systems architecture. Other CVN-21 features include an enhanced flight deck, improved weapons handling and aircraft servicing efficiency, and a flexible island arrangement allowing for future technology insertion. This graphic points out many of the key improvements.

DID’s CVN-21 FOCUS Article offers a detailed look at a number of the program’s key innovations, as well as a list of relevant contract awards and events.

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