Jane Edwards
Huntington Ingalls Industries has completed the flight deck of the John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) aircraft carrier with the installation of the ship’s upper bow section at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division in Virginia.
“We are very pleased with the progress being made on Kennedy as we inch closer to christening the ship later this year,†Mike Butler, CVN 79 program director at HII Newport News Shipbuilding business, said in a statement published Thursday.
“The upper bow is the last superlift that completes the ship’s primary hull,†he added.
HII is constructing the ship with the help of over 3.2K shipbuilders and 2K suppliers and is implementing a build strategy that uses digital tools to develop the superlifts.
The vessel’s superlift weighs 780 tons and took 18 months to construct.
HII said the aircraft carrier is in the early testing phases and is expected to launch in the fourth quarter.
