Article Posted on : - May 14, 2010

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Northrop Grumman Photo.

NEWSPORT (BNS): US Navy has awarded the Northrop Grumman Corporation a $186.6 million worth defence contract for continuing the engineering and designing of the country's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).

"This planned contract modification is essential to continuing the ship design to support construction. Now that the design is in the three-dimensional product model our effort is focused on the production of instructions for the shops and ship assembly. We're excited to continue progress on the engineering and construction of CVN 78," said Mike Shawcross, vice president of aircraft carrier construction programme, in the company news release.

The ship's new construction designs will include flight deck changes, improved weapons handling systems, and a redesigned island, all resulting in increased aircraft sortie rates.

It will also include new nuclear power plants; increased electrical power generation capacity; allowance for future technologies; and reduced workload for the sailors, translating to a smaller crew size and reduced operating costs for the US Navy.

The aircraft carrier is named after the 38th President of the United States. Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is the first ship of the new Gerald R. Ford class whose keel was laid Nov. 14, 2009.

The company's shipbuilding sector is the prime contractor.