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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Spraying the bubbles from sparkling wine across the enormous gray bow of the USS George H.W. Bush, the Bush family on Saturday christened the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier named after the 82-year-old former president. "I know you join me in saying to our father, President Bush, your ship has come in," the current president said during a ceremony for the last of the Nimitz-class carriers, the CVN 77. "She is unrelenting, she is unshakable, she is unyielding, she is unstoppable," Bush said, lauding the warship's state-of-the-art design before pausing for a punch line aimed at his mother's...

CVN-77 to be Christened on October 7th, 2006 From the Northrop Grumman site. On Saturday, October 7, 2006, Northrop Grumman Newport News will christen the nation’s 10th and final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). The ship’s namesake and 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, is scheduled to attend the ceremony along with his wife Barbara and their daughter, Doro Bush Koch, Mrs. Koch also serves as the ship’s sponsor and will do the traditional honor of breaking a bottle of American sparkling wine across the ship’s bow during the ceremony. Employees of...

A large section of the George HW Bush aircraft carrier is being secured to the last of its kind ship being built at Northrop Grumman Newport News. Last week, a crane lifted the upper bow section into place. The section is a 780-ton mass of steel and internal components. It is one of the 161 large ship pieces that make up the ship's main structure. While the crane continues to hold the bow section in place, yard workers will attach it to the rest of the ship. The section completes the end-to-end span of the Bush's flight deck. The carrier...

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy will cut one of its 12 aircraft carriers, jettison more than 13,000 sailors from its active rolls and slow down the purchase of new ships and aircraft, according to the Navy’s portion of the 2006 defense budget proposal. The good news, say service officials, is that with the extra $6.4 billion they’re getting over the $119 billion approved last year, they’ll be able to provide new special pay and bonus money, more housing allowances, stipends for living overseas as well as increases to fleet maintenance and training. The proposal calls for increasing sailors’ base pay...

ABOARD THE USS KITTY HAWK (AP) In his office under the flight deck of the USS Kitty Hawk, Capt. Thomas Parker points at a wall covered by the photos of his 32 predecessors. The first one took command before the 1962 Cuban missile crisis; in the middle are the Vietnam-era captains. USS Kitty Hawk leaves its forward-deployed port in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture to take part in the Summer Pulse 2004 exercises. You have to turn a corner down the hall to get to Parker's own picture. After 43 years and assignments in just about every conflict from Vietnam to Iraq,...

FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE H. W. BUSH AUTHENTICATES KEEL FOR AIRCRAFT CARRIER NAMED IN HIS HONOR Former President Bush authenticated the keel of the George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier by chalking his initials onto a metal plate. His initials were then welded onto the plate, which will be permanently affixed to the carrier. NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- September 6, 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Newport News sector hosted a keel laying ceremony today for the aircraft carrier George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). Former President George H. W. Bush served as the keel authenticator and keynote speaker for...

News media are invited to the keel laying ceremony for the George H. W. Bush at Northrop Grumman Newport News on Saturday, September 6. President George H. W. Bush will serve as the keel authenticator and principal speaker for the ceremony. THE EVENT IS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Satellite Information Northrop Grumman Newport News will provide a live, multi-camera satellite broadcast of the ceremony in its entirety on September 6. Details are as follows: Online: 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. EDT Access: Telstar 6, K-11 Full Downlink will be 11929 vertical

CAE awarded C$12M in U.S. Navy contracts (CAE is ranked in the top 20 Canadian companies for investment in research and development. The company invests approximately 10% of its revenues in R&D. ) - PRNewswire - - USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) - USS New York (LPD 21) NYSE: CGT; TSX: CAE) TORONTO, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - CAE has been selected to supply electric plant control systems for the largest and most advanced warship in naval history, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), as well as for the U.S. Navy's latest LPD 17...

CVN 21 said to offer biggest changes in decades, seeking a ‘leap ahead’ in technology by Harold Kennedy The U.S. Navy is moving ahead with plans for its much-debated, next-generation aircraft carrier, now called CVN 21. The service has requested $1.5 billion in its fiscal year 2004 budget for research, development and engineering and advanced procurement for the ship. CVN 21 is scheduled to begin construction in 2007 and to be delivered in 2014, according to Rear Adm. Dennis M. Dwyer, the Navy’s program executive officer for aircraft carriers. The budget for the entire project “now stands at $11.7 billion,”...

The 100th C-17 Globemaster III to come off the production line will be dubbed The Spirit of Strom Thurmond.