US Navy Awards 2-Carrier Contract to Newport News Shipbuilding

THE PENTAGON – The Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding a contract for two aircraft carriers, the first of its kind since the 1980s.

The two-carrier buy covers CVN-80 and 81. The Office of the Secretary of Defense signed off on the buy on New Year’s Eve, kicking off a 30-day waiting period before the Navy could formally award the contract.

The Navy originally thought the combined purchase would save them about $2.5 billion across the two ships, but estimates have since risen to about $4 billion by combining the two ships into a single purchase, allowing for better sequencing at the shipyard and avoiding duplication in planning.

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee who also represents the Hampton Roads area near the Newport News Shipbuilding yard, announced the contract award this afternoon.

“Today the Navy finally secured a two-carrier block buy for CVN 80 and 81, further advancing US Navy efforts to build to a fleet of 12 aircraft carriers and 355 ships. Leading this provision through my subcommittee, through the NDAA as a conferee, and finally fighting on the House floor for its an inclusion in the FY19 Defense Appropriations bill has been an honor. This dual buy means even larger savings than projected for taxpayers – $4 billion – and the certainty that our industrial base needs to retain and hire the employees who create the highest quality products for our sailors,” Wittman said in a statement.
“For Virginia, it means thousands of reliable jobs and community development for the next decade and beyond. As one of the largest Navy shipbuilding contracts ever, I am proud to have led this effort and look forward to its success.”

The Navy in the 1980s awarded two-carrier contracts for CVNs 72 and 73 and then again for 74 and 75.

Naval Sea Systems Command commander Vice Adm. Tom Moore previously said that, “The facts are pretty clear: when we’ve had a chance to do two-ship buys on the carrier side, with CVN-72 and 73 and then again with 74 and 75, in terms of the total cost performance of the ships and the number of man-hours it took to build those ships, within the Nimitz-class those four ships were built for the fewest man-hours and the lowest cost. So you’re clearly getting benefit out of that, but you have to balance it against the other competing needs of the budget.”

https://news.usni.org/2019/01/31/navy-awards-2-carrier-contract-newport-news-shipbuilding