CVN-80 is being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia. The first cut of steel ceremony, marking the beginning of fabrication of the ship's components, was held on 21 August 2017, with ship's sponsors Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles present. Construction began in advance of the purchase contract and construction award, in early 2018. Steel from CVN-65 will be recycled and used in the construction of CVN-80. Enterprise will also incorporate four portholes taken from CV-6, her World War II predecessor. Enterprise will replace USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and is scheduled to be launched in November 2025, with a planned delivery date of March 2028.
The keel was laid on 5 April 2022, three weeks ahead of schedule, making the ship about 13% complete.
A graphic showing what the future USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 80) is expected to look like when she joins the fleet after 2025. The aircraft are F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters, F/A-18 E and F Super Hornet strike fighters, E-2D Hawkeye electronic warfare planes, and an unmanned strike jet modeled on the X-47B sitting on the No. 4 catapult.