Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Abstract

CVN-78, CVN-79, and CVN-80 are the first three ships in the Navy's new Gerald R. Ford (CVN- 78) class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (CVNs). CVN-78 was procured in FY2008 and is being funded with congressionally authorized four-year incremental funding in FY2008-FY2011. The Navy's proposed FY2012 budget estimates the ship's procurement cost at $11,531.0 million (i.e., about $11.5 billion) in then-year dollars. The Navy's proposed FY2011 budget requested $1,731.3 million in procurement funding as the final increment to complete this estimated procurement cost. CVN-79 is scheduled for procurement in FY2013, and has received advance procurement funding since FY2007. The Navy's proposed FY2012 budget estimates the ship's procurement cost at $10,253.0 million (i.e., about $10.3 billion) in then-year dollars and requests $554.8 million in advance procurement funding for the ship. CVN-80 is scheduled for procurement in FY2018, with advance procurement funding scheduled to begin in FY2014. The Navy's proposed FY2012 budget estimates the ship's procurement cost at $13,494.9 million (i.e., about $13.5 billion) in then-year dollars. On April 6, 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced a number of recommendations he was making to the President for the FY2010 defense budget submission. One of these was to shift procurement of carriers to five-year intervals. This recommendation, which was included in the FY2010 defense budget submission, deferred the scheduled procurement of CVN-79 from FY2012 to FY2013, and the scheduled procurement of CVN-80 from FY2016 to FY2018. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated on April 6, 2009, that shifting carrier procurement to five-year intervals would put carrier procurement on "a more fiscally sustainable path".

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 12, 2011
Accession Number
ADA543580

Entities

People

  • Ronald O'Rourke

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircraft Carriers
  • Boats
  • Catapult-Assisted Takeoff Systems
  • Congress
  • Cvn-79 Uss John F. Kennedy
  • Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems
  • Flight Decks
  • Ford-Class
  • Governments
  • Naval Vessels
  • Navy
  • Nimitz-Class
  • Procurement
  • Ships
  • Structural Loads
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Uss Gerald R. Ford

Readers

  • Government Contracting/Procurement.
  • Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies