The US Navy is about to own two new aircraft carriers at the same time.
The US Navy plans to buy two new Gerald Ford-class aircraft carriers at the same time in fiscal year 2019 to save costs.
According toSputnik News, The US Congress has urged the US Navy to speed up negotiations with US military shipbuilders to achieve the above plan.
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| USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier. Photo: AP |
In a press release on March 20, the US Navy stated that they have asked US military shipbuilders to submit bids “with the most reasonable cost” for the US Navy to consider purchasing two aircraft carriers.
Previously, in 2017, more than 100 congressmen sent a letter to the Pentagon “expressing their interest in purchasing two additional Gerald Ford-class aircraft carriers” within a year. According to the US congressmen, the Government could save up to $2.5 billion if it purchased two aircraft carriers at the same time due to reduced logistics costs.
The simultaneous purchase of two aircraft carriers “allows the US Navy to have a fleet of 12 aircraft carriers sooner than expected and brings the force to a total of 355 ships of all types,” Republican Congressman Rob Wittman said in December 2017.
Meanwhile, speaking on March 20, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James Geurts emphasized: “The US Navy has outlined a strategy to purchase two aircraft carriers codenamed CVN-80 and CVN-81 at the same time. This helps the US Navy achieve its goal of building a fleet of ships with much greater destructive power, combat capability and strength than before.”
CVN-80 and CVN-81 are the two official code names of the aircraft carriers that the US Navy will soon own. Accordingly, CVN-80 will be officially named USS Enterprise while CVN-81 has not yet been named.
According to the US Navy, purchasing two aircraft carriers at the same time is a strategy that "was used effectively in the 1980s to purchase Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, which helped the US Navy save significantly on costs compared to purchasing each carrier individually."
Previously, the purchase of another Gerald Ford-class aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, had costs increased by up to 20% and delivery was delayed by up to 1 year. The US Navy only received this ship in 2017. This shows that the US military has many difficulties in controlling the cost of purchasing a new aircraft carrier./.
