Advance Construction Begins for CVN 21 (First CVNX Series)

Navy NewsStand ^ | Aug 12, 2005 | Journalist 1st Class Donald P. Rule

[SandRat]

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) -- The beveling of a 15-ton metal plate kicked off advance construction of the newest class of aircraft carrier, the CVN 21 project, Aug. 11 at Northrop Grumman Newport News' shipyards in Virginia. The new carrier is designed to modernize the “flat tops” for the 21st century.

Advance construction will take an estimated two years before construction can begin on the actual ship itself. This gives technicians and engineers the time needed to test and design the ship, and all the new technologies that will be put into the vessel.

“We’re going to kind of mark [the occasion of] the first cutting of steel,” said Matt Mulherin, vice president of programs at Northrop Grumman Newport News. “We’re starting advance construction today, and it’s the construction needed to kind of learn your lessons, validate your capacity assumptions...see how things are working out in your new facility.”

“Remember, this is the lead ship,” Mulherin added. “Historically, they take a little bit longer. There’s a little bit of a learning curve that needs to be learned and implemented.”

Besides being larger than today’s Nimitz-class carriers, the new generation will switch the steam-powered catapults to electromagnetic catapults; redesign the island structure, which merges the separate island and mast of the old carriers into a single, smaller compact unit; and a newly designed nuclear power plant. These and other systems will be designed to maximize efficiency and reduce costs, manning and weight while enhancing the ship’s operational capabilities.

“[The ship] will have improved capabilities over the Nimitz class, a class of ships that has proven very capable,” said Mike Petters, president of Northrop Grumman Newport News. “CVN 21 is designed for efficiency over the 50-year lifecycle while providing America with the kind of forward presence unique to aircraft carriers and so critical in today’s uncertain world.”

The metal plate cut during Thursday's ceremony will eventually be used in the construction of CVN 78, the first aircraft carrier to be built under the CVN 21 project. Along with the first-cut ceremony, the shipyard held its grand opening for several new facilities to be used in the construction of the new warships.

New facilities include a heavy-plate bay facility, a covered modular-assembly facility and others to protect employees and components from the weather, and additional cranes to allow modular pieces to be built more complete prior to attaching it to the rest of the ship.

For more news from around the fleet, visit www.navy.mil.

[SandRat]

CVN PING

[SandRat]

Running Active ASW.

[Boundless]

Here's a site with images:
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=8746

I'm a bit surprised it's not a facetted design for
low-observable. I see curves and probably orthogonal
corner reflector shapes.

Perhaps CVNs are too big, and too small in number to be
worth trying to hide from radar. Presumably any opfor
that could credibly strike at one always knows where
they are.

[rmlew]

It sounds like a nice ship. However at a development cost of 7 Billion and a production cost of 6.4 billion, this will be an expensive ship.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/cvx.htm
I also hate to see the Enterprise go. The planned 11 carrier navy is way to freaking small.
If we are to deter China and North Korea, we need 2 CVBGs in the Pacific. If we are going to pressure Iran, that means at least two in the Indian Ocean and Gulf.
That is 4 to 5 carriers depolyed constantly for the next year. I don't see how we can do that with less than 13 carriers.

[darkwing104]

Let's really piss off the Rats and request that the U.S. Navy name it the George W. Bush...

[Sonar5]

Sounds good to me as well.

[rmlew]

The next ship will have more stealthy features. CVNX-1 is part of the spiral technological upgrade program. (Although some ways have called it the cost spire.)
A CVBG is too big to hide. It is clearly observable by radar and sattelite. The best they can do is use faceting and RAM to create lower observable ships that are harder to hit.

[Cheburashka]

We're already building a carrier named after George H. W. Bush. Might be a tad confusing.

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ships/ship-cv.html

[SandRat]

I would prefer the USS Admiral Stockdale.

[COEXERJ145]

The names Lexington, Saratoga, America, and United States have all been said to be in consideration for the first CVX carrier.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Some more knowledgeable FReeper might know better, but I think I remember reading that this new carrier is intended to replace the Kitty Hawk. The Big E still has some life left in her, and it just wouldn't be right if there wasn't an Enterprise in the Navy.

[tlb]

I hope you realize the new carrier is probably fated to be the USS Bill Clinton. It's his turn after the USS Carter and the USS G H Bush.

[FLAMING DEATH]

Bizarre. For some strange reason, I just finished perusing the list of aircraft carriers at NavSource. Then I come in here and see this. Spooky.

Here's their page on the project: http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/78.htm

I had the good fortune to go for a ride on the John C. Stennis (CVN-74) a few years back, before it left Norfolk. I actually got to stand on the flight deck while they launched and recovered aircraft, and got to see an F-14 break the sound barrier, not to mention fire its guns into the sea. Something I will never forget.

[SandRat]

EEEEEEEEEeeeeYOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!