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| Keel laying of future US carrier Ford USS Enterprise Class (CVN 80) |
International Military - The US Navy conducted a keel-laying ceremony for the future Ford-class aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN 80). The ceremony took place at the HII-Newport News Shipyard (NNS), at Newport News, where the 688-ton keel unit was placed in dry dock.
Five years earlier, on 24 August 2017, the first steel cutting ceremony for the CVN 80 was held, which marked the beginning of a major construction milestone for the USS Enterprise. This ship is the third aircraft carrier of the USS Gerald R. Ford class (CVN 78) after the second aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79).
In parallel with the construction of the USS Enterprise, the US Navy is also building a fourth Ford-class aircraft carrier, the USS Doris Miller (CVM 81). US Navy broadcast, dry dock installation CVN 80 consists of 131 super-lifts.
The number of super-lifts varies with each shipbuilding. For comparison, the crew built the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) using 162 super-lifts and the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) with 155 super-lifts.
For the USS Enterprise itself, this is the 9th ship of the same name. The first ship to bear this name entered service in 1775. The last USS Enterprise before this was the CVN 65 which was in service from 1961–2017.
Currently USS Enterprise (CVN 65) is moored near the shipyard awaiting the results of an environmental impact statement and the Navy's decision on disposal options. The carrier class USS Gerald R. Ford, which weighs about 100,000 tons, is 333 m long, 41 m wide, can operate at speeds of over 30 knots. The ship is designed to be operated by a smaller crew than previous carriers.
Each Ford-class vessel will provide significant savings in total cost of ownership over a 50-year service life, when compared to the Nimitz-class vessels that are gradually being replaced. USS Enterprise (CVN 80) will replace the role of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), which is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2029.