The US Navy (USN) intends to cut the number of man-hours it takes to build the current planned fleet of Ford-class ships now slated for construction by about a third by the fourth ship of that class, according to USN spokesperson Captain Danny Hernandez.
To keep costs down, the navy is continually implementing initiatives to control costs in the Ford class,” Capt Hernandez told Jane’s .
“Efforts already in place include capturing CVN 78 lessons learned, refining CVN 79’s and CVN 80’s ship construction processes, capitalising on technological improvements, shipbuilder investments in facilities, invoking better business strategies, and optimising Ford-class operational systems. These efforts result in more than 18% reduction in production man-hours from CVN 79 to CVN 81, and are in addition to the 18% reduction on CVN 79, as compared to CVN 78 actuals,” he said.
The USN expects to see even more shipbuilding labour reductions for the aircraft carriers Enterprise (CVN 80) and CVN 81. (USN)
Capt Hernandez added, “The 18% reduction is as compared to the same level of completeness on CVN 78 [USS Gerald R Ford] .”
John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), now about 58% complete, will be ready to launch in November 2019, about three months early, James Geurts, assistant secretary of the navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, said on 29 May at an on-ship ceremony for island-landing on the vessel.
The reduction, then, does not include the post-shakedown availability (PSA) maintenance period used to make repairs on Ford .
“Extension of Ford PSA is not one of the variables,” Capt Hernandez said. “The current Kennedy reduction figure is compared to when Ford
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