The Navy is exploring whether it can achieve significant savings in parts and labor by buying its next two aircraft carriers together instead of individually, the service’s top weapons buyer said.
The Navy intends to deploy 12 aircraft carriers, up from the 11 today, as a key part of its planned expansion to 355 ships. In a request for proposals Monday, the Navy asked Newport News-based shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls “to further define the cost savings achievable” if it makes a block purchase of the third and fourth carriers in the new Ford class.
A two-ship commitment would provide a major boost in revenue for Huntington Ingalls and its subcontractors, including General Atomics, which makes the aircraft launch and recovery system.
