{"id":1626749,"date":"2022-08-30T09:50:27","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T13:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1626749"},"modified":"2022-08-30T09:51:36","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T13:51:36","slug":"newport-news-shipbuilding-argues-for-aircraft-carrier-block-buy-as-new-enterprise-takes-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/newport-news-shipbuilding-argues-for-aircraft-carrier-block-buy-as-new-enterprise-takes-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"Newport News Shipbuilding Argues for Aircraft Carrier Block Buy as New Enterprise Takes Shape"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnewport-news-shipbuilding-argues-for-aircraft-carrier-block-buy-as-new-enterprise-takes-shape%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1626749&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div id=\"attachment_96904\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AM1A7874-scaled.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96904\" data-attachment-id=\"96904\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2022\/08\/28\/hii-argues-for-aircraft-carrier-block-buy-as-new-enterprise-takes-shape\/am1a7874\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AM1A7874-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"5472,3648\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{\" aperture \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-96904\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A keel section of the future aircraft carrier Enterprise CVN-80 on Aug 26, 2022. USNI News Photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEWPORT NEWS, Va. \u2013 Fatima Medina-Galeno might be one of the few naval shipbuilders in the United States who needs a solid Wi-Fi signal to get her job done. In addition to her steel-toed boots and her hardhat, Medina-Galeno lugs a rugged, dust-covered laptop on the job.<span id=\"more-96902\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>At the start of each shift, she downloads the work package for the day \u2013 a three-dimensional model of the pipe sections she\u2019s assigned to install in a steel module that eventually will become aircraft carrier <em>Enterprise<\/em> (CVN-80).<\/p>\n<p>Medina-Galeno asks fewer questions because she can see and manipulate the model by zooming in on an angle placement or rotating the view to get a better sense of how the pipes fit together, she told USNI News on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>She learned on paper plans at Newport News Shipbuilding training school, but the laptop makes her life easier, even though it weighs nearly 10 pounds, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t weigh as much as my toolbox,\u201d she told USNI News.<\/p>\n<p>Medina-Galeno\u2019s day-to-day digital world is one reason the Navy and Newport News say the yard has kept largely on schedule for <em>Enterprise<\/em>\u2019s 2028 contract delivery despite other delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything [in the yard] today was built by mechanics using laptops or tablets. For the first time in our history, and I believe in the Navy\u2019s history, the ship isn\u2019t just designed in a 3D [computer-aided design] tool but now we\u2019re taking that 3D information and putting it onto a digital device and allowing our shipbuilders to build with that,\u201d Ford-class program\u00a0vice president Brian Fields told reporters on Friday.<br \/>\u201cIt gives our shipbuilders the opportunity to understand visually what they\u2019re supposed to be doing. And why that\u2019s so important is that with the amount of new shipbuilders that we\u2019re bringing\u00a0into the company now and over the next five or 10 years, we see that their time to proficiency is collapsing, we\u2019re able to give them harder jobs without the same oversight because they know what\u2019s being asked.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cvn-80-05.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18660\" data-attachment-id=\"18660\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2016\/03\/18\/industry-pushing-congress-for-cvn-80-and-81-block-buy-research-for-shipbuilding-efficiency\/cvn-80-05\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cvn-80-05.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1920,1280\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{\" aperture \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-18660\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s concept of the future carrier Enterprise (CVN-80). DoD Image<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The yard laid the keel of what will be the Navy\u2019s <em>Enterprise<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2022\/04\/05\/hii-lays-keel-of-future-aircraft-carrier-uss-enterprise\">in April<\/a>, USNI News reported, by placing the first of more than 300 modules that will make up the carrier in the drydock at Newport News.<\/p>\n<p>As <em>Enterprise <\/em>begins to come together, Newport News Shipbuilding and parent HII are mounting a case for the service to purchase the next two Ford-class aircraft carriers \u2013 CVN-82 and CVN-83 \u2013 in a block buy contract.<\/p>\n<p>Since the start of the Ford program, Newport News has invested $1 billion in capital expenditures at its yard by the James River to improve it for the carrier construction, with the infrastructure for digital plans a major part of the spend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[<em>Enterprise<\/em>] is the first digital aircraft carrier and the part of a two-shipset buy. When you think about a two-aircraft carrier buy, there\u2019s significant savings,\u201d HII\u2019s CEO Christopher Kastner told reporters on Friday.<br \/>\u201cThink about what happened with the world with inflation. We were able to place the vast majority of the orders for 81 before inflation hit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The arrangement would follow the 2019 two-carrier buy for <em>Enterprise <\/em>and <em>Doris Miller <\/em>(CVN-81) for an estimated $24 billion compared to the $28 billion the Navy said it would spend buying the carriers separately, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2019\/01\/31\/navy-awards-2-carrier-contract-newport-news-shipbuilding\">USNI News reported at the time<\/a>. The initial two-carrier block buy was paired with a Trump administration proposal to <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2019\/02\/28\/pentagon-plan-sideline-carrier-truman-will-net-just-17m-fy-2020\">decommission USS <em>Harry S. Truman<\/em> (CVN-75)<\/a>. Congress rejected losing <em>Truman <\/em>as part of the Fiscal Year 2020 budget deliberations.<br \/><strong><br \/><\/strong>Internally, the Navy has determined that a two-carrier buy for CVN-82 and 83 is the most cost-effective way to keep the Ford class going, Capt. Brain Metcalf, the Navy program manager for the Ford program, told reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve sent [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] several scenarios. The scenario that we believe is optimal is two ships built over eight years on four-year centers with the three years of advanced procurement funding,\u201d Metcalf said.<br \/>\u201cTypically, we\u2019ve gotten two years, we\u2019ve learned now that we probably need about three years \u2026 lead times have gone up nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Congress isn\u2019t sold on the carrier math, yet. There\u2019s a proposal in the House version of Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act directing the Navy to report on a combination of single carrier and dual-carrier buys without committing to a single acquisition strategy. The House authorization bill wants a report from the service by February.<br \/><strong><br \/><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AM1A7891-scaled.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"96903\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2022\/08\/28\/hii-argues-for-aircraft-carrier-block-buy-as-new-enterprise-takes-shape\/am1a7891\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AM1A7891-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"5472,3648\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{\" aperture \/><\/a><span>The hulk of former Enterprise (CVN-65) on Aug. 26, 2022. USNI News Photo<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The study follows the long development period for the program that has drawn criticism in Congress. USS <em>Gerald R. Ford<\/em> (CVN-78), the world\u2019s most expensive warship commissioned in 2017 and will now deploy later this year after <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2022\/04\/05\/hii-lays-keel-of-future-aircraft-carrier-uss-enterprise\">reaching its initial operating capability in December<\/a>. The ship was originally supposed to deploy in 2018 and the lag has exacerbated the Navy\u2019s problems with <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2020\/11\/12\/no-margin-left-overworked-carrier-force-struggles-to-maintain-deployments-after-decades-of-overuse\">carrier availability<\/a>. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) called <em>Ford<\/em> a \u201c$13 billion berthing barge\u201d in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the argument from the shipyard and the Navy are that block buys yield better deals on long-lead materials, keep the workforce stable and support vulnerable suppliers with more predictable workloads.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re buying the smartest, cheapest way, two at a time, [on] four-year centers. It allows us to keep our workforce stable,\u201d Fields told reporters on Friday ahead of the ceremonial keel-laying at the shipyard.<br \/>\u201cIt allows our industrial partners to keep their factories open and stable, keep hot production lines going and provide the best chance to meet schedules and budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While HII and the Navy have started making the case now, the service says it has a couple of years to make up its mind about how to buy the next carriers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA decision on CVN 82\/83 two-ship buy is required no later than FY25 and will be evaluated during upcoming force structure and industrial base studies,\u201d reads the Navy\u2019s latest long-range shipbuilding plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A keel section of the future aircraft carrier Enterprise CVN-80 on Aug 26, 2022. USNI News Photo NEWPORT NEWS, Va. \u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1626751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1626749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1626749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1626751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1626749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1626749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1626749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}