Perhaps a backdoor payoff to NG for cancelling the KC-X contract?
CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford
Posted on 09/12/2008 6:28:10 AM PDT by Yo-Yo
Wall Street analysts are smiling on the early and friendly contract award to Northrop Grumman for detail design and construction of the future USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the lead ship in the U.S. Navy's next class of aircraft carrier.
"We had been expecting contract award in late Q4, so the early date adds clarity to [Northrop Grumman's] long-term outlook at Shipbuilding," Credit Suisse analysts said in referring to Northrop's recently restructured shipbuilding unit.
But perhaps most importantly, the CVN-78 contract has been structured as a cost-plus type, with various fee mechanisms, they further said. "This means that, should cost over-runs occur, [Northrop Grumman] will not be stuck with the bill, such as what occurred on LHD-8 due to Hurricane Katrina."
Overall, Credit Suisse nonetheless believes Northrop can make as much as 10 percent on the project. "Net, net, it looks to us like management learned the lessons of LHD-8. The ship is planned for a September 2015 delivery, and we think this contract puts [Northrop Grumman's] goal of $6 billion in ship sales by 2012 well within reach," Robert Spingarn, Peter Skibitsk and Julia Yates told clients early Sept. 11.
Northrop and the Navy announced the award -- long expected as Northrop is the only domestic provider -- late Sept. 10. The deal outlines a $5.1 billion, seven-year cost plus incentive fee contract award for the design and construction of the nuclear-powered flattop (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 11).
CVN-78 is the Navy's first major investment in aircraft carrier design in more than three decades and features many hoped-for improvements over the 1960's Nimitz-class design, according to Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and Northrop. Plans call for a new flight deck with an improved weapons handling system, advanced arresting gear, a completely re-engineered Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), new and simplified nuclear propulsion plants, a new electrical power generation system and reconfigurable design architecture.
Capt. Brian Antonio, CVN-78 program manager in the Program Executive Office for Aircraft Carriers, said the expected advances ultimately should cut the total ownership cost of each Ford-class carrier by about $5 billion over the life of the ship.
Still, the Navy and Northrop already had to shave off costs, and they constantly have to defend cost estimations when on Capitol Hill, which has grown far more skeptical of such projections (Aerospace DAILY, March 13, 2007). A contract once was expected last year.
CVN-78, named the Ford in January 2007, will be constructed in Newport News, Va. Its keel is scheduled to be laid late next year, NAVSEA said. The Navy plans to build 11 Ford-class aircraft carriers -- previously known as the CVN-21 class -- and construction is projected to continue through 2058.
Advance construction of the Ford began in 2005 under a separate contract valued at $2.7 billion, according to Northrop. This advance work allowed shipbuilders to test the design-build strategy, exercise new processes, prototype new features used on this ship before the overall construction contract was awarded, and to build a "sufficient" backlog of ship units to support production, undocking and delivery. About one third of the ship's 1,200 structural units are currently under construction.
Perhaps a backdoor payoff to NG for cancelling the KC-X contract?
CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford
Gerald Ford?
Isn’t it about time we reuse Yorktown, Hornet, etc.
Otherwise, we’ll have a USS Clinton soon...
We already have the USS Jimmy Carter.
as long as there is NEVER a uss jimmy carter carrier.....
Having a hard time suppressing a chuckle over that.
Can’t happen overnight. Most of the venerable carrier names from WW2 are being used on LHA/LHD’s.
I’m pretty sure USS Yorktown is available.
Northrop-Grumman runs Newport News, Avondale (LA) and Ingalls (Pascagoula, MS) shipyards. Is there really any competition? I can't recall the last carrier that wasn't built by NN.
So is USS World Trade Center.
Naming our capital ships after politicians (and lousy politicians, at that) is a terrible mistake, a sign of weakness and corruption, AND will inexorably lead, as some have pointed out, to a USS Barbara Boxer some day.
Let's get back to national pride.
Good point. Imagine the 'horsetrading' that goes on between the parties over approving the names of capital ships? Sooner or later the Dems will slip one in that's going to make heads explode on this board.
Incidentally, most ship's have nicknames bestowed by their crews, past & present. Do you suppose the USS Boxer might be "Babs"?
*****
Having a hard time suppressing a chuckle over that.
Yup. I've often thought that the WWII carrier names should've been reserved for the first ship in each new class of carriers.
Jim Nble wrote - “Naming our capital ships after politicians (and lousy politicians, at that) is a terrible mistake, a sign of weakness and corruption, AND will inexorably lead, as some have pointed out, to a USS Barbara Boxer some day.
Let’s get back to national pride.”
..... Emphatically agree.
Let’s take the $60 billion we spend on illegal aliens every year and spend it on carriers, instead.
Constellation (CV-64), I think, launched in 1960.
Seriously though, why in the John Effin’ Kerry are we naming an aircraft carrier after Gerald Ford? Unless the person received the CMOH, or had some huge historical significance, they should NOT be naming our Navy’s ship after people.
Well, at least a submarine is phallic, so I can see a bit of similarity.
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They could name a dirigible after her, since there's nothing in there but lots of gas.
USS Jimmy Carter, only submarine designed with opening windows - insisted on by its namesake - LOL
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