USS Enterprise CVN-80 Ford class Aircraft Carrier US Navy

USS Enterprise (CVN-80) will be the third Gerald R. Ford-class
aircraft carrier to be built for the United States Navy. She will be
the ninth United States naval vessel to bear the name, and is
scheduled to be constructed and in operation by 2027.

On 1 December 2012, during the presentation of a pre-recorded speech
at the inactivation ceremony for USS Enterprise (CVN-65), U.S.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that CVN-80 would be named
Enterprise. She will be the ninth ship and the third aircraft
carrier in the history of the United States Navy to bear the name.
CVN-80 will also be the first American supercarrier since America
was commissioned in 1966 not to be named in honor of a person.

CVN-80 will be built by Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News
Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia. Enterprise is scheduled to
begin active construction around 2018 and be delivered by 2025.
However, in an effort to save costs, the Congressional Research
Service indicates that the Navy Department is reviewing the
possibility of extending the length of time used to build both John
F. Kennedy (CVN-79) and Enterprise by two years. If approved, the
ship would not enter service until 2027 and prevent any instance of
12 carriers being in service at any one time. The steel from CVN-65
will be recycled and used to construct CVN-80. The ship is currently
scheduled to replace USS Nimitz (CVN-68).