Keel laid for newest Navy aircraft carrier

[unhappycamper]

Keel laid for newest Navy aircraft carrier
Staff report
Posted : Friday Nov 13, 2009 17:55:16 EST

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and the Navy marked the keel-laying of the newest aircraft carrier Friday in ceremonies at Newport News, Va.

The ship is named after Gerald R. Ford, the 38th U.S. president. Ford’s daughter, Susan Ford Bales, is the ship’s sponsor and authenticated the keel when her initials were welded onto a metal plate.

The carrier, numbered CVN 78, represents the first new carrier design since the 1960s. The ship will have a smaller crew than previous flattops and incorporate new technologies, including an Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launching System, advanced arresting gear and dual-band radar.

The new ship should join the fleet in 2015.


Article about the new $11.5 billion dollar (sans people and airplanes) Ford-class carrier at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/11/navy_carrier_keel_laying_111309w/

[morningglory]

1. Whoa! I was afraid it was going to be the USS G W Bush*. Ya scared me! nt

[unhappycamper]

2. The G. H. W. Bush was the last of the Nimitz-class carriers.

Prior incantations of Nimitz-class carriers cost $4.5 billion dollars; the G.H.W. Bush? Right around $6.8 billion due to excessive overtime.