Matthew Nelson
Huntington Ingalls Industries and the U.S. Navy have entered negotiations on a potential contract to build the third and fourth Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, Navy Times reported Thursday.
James Geurts, assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition at the Navy, said at a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing Tuesday that he expects the military branch to decide whether to pursue the two-ship deal by the end of the year.
Geurts added he predicts the bulk procurement approach will save the government more than $2.5B.
The Navy issued in March a request for proposal to Huntington Ingalls’ Newport News Shipbuilding division to determine the potential cost savings from procuring CVN 80 and CVN 81 carriers through a two-ship contracting method.
The branch started advanced planning and initial material procurement efforts for the third ship named USS Enterprise in May 2016.
