Cvn-80 Uss Enterprise: Future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier

Ford-class aircraft carrier to be built for the United States Navy. She will be the ninth United States naval vessel to bear the name, and is scheduled to be in operation by 2027. Her construction began in August 2017 with a steel-cutting ceremony.

Artist's impression of the future CVN-80
History
United States
Name	Enterprise
Namesake	USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
Awarded	23 May 2016
Builder	Huntington Ingalls Industries
Laid down	2020 (planned)
Launched	2025 (planned)
Sponsored by	Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles
Commissioned	2028 (planned)
Identification	CVN-80
Status	Under construction
General characteristics
Class and type	Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	About 100,000 long tons (100,000 tonnes) (full load)
Length	1,106 ft (337 m)
Beam	134 ft (41 m)
Draft	39 ft (12 m)
Installed power	Two A1B nuclear reactors
Propulsion	Four shafts
Speed	In excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	Unlimited distance; 20–25 years
Complement	4,660
Armament	Surface-to-air missiles Close-in weapons systems
Aircraft carried	More than 80, approx. up to 90 combat aircraft
Aviation facilities	1,092 ft × 256 ft (333 m × 78 m) flight deck

On 1 December 2012, during the presentation of a pre-recorded speech at the inactivation ceremony for USS Enterprise (CVN-65), then-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that CVN-80 would be named Enterprise. She will be the ninth ship and the third aircraft carrier in the history of the United States Navy to bear the name. CVN-80 will also be the first American supercarrier not to be named in honor of a person since the America was commissioned in 1966. In December 2016, Mabus chose Olympic gold medalists Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles to sponsor the ship.

 

CVN-80 will be built by Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia. Enterprise is scheduled to begin active construction around 2018 and be delivered by 2025. However, in an effort to save costs, the Congressional Research Service indicates that the Department of the Navy is reviewing the possibility of extending the length of time used to build both  (CVN-79) and Enterprise by two years. If approved, the ship would not enter service until 2027 and prevent any instance of 12 carriers being in service at any one time. The steel from CVN-65 will be recycled and used to construct CVN-80. The ship is currently scheduled to replace USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. The first cut of steel ceremony, marking the beginning of fabrication of the ship's components, was held on 21 August 2017, with ship's sponsors Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles present. Construction began in advance of the purchase contract and construction award, in early 2018. In the spring of 2018, a piece of steel from CVN-65 was melted down and remade into a keel plate for CVN-80.

• List of aircraft carriers
• List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
• List of ships of the United States Navy named Enterprise