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NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive

ENTERPRISE (CVN-80)

(Profile courtesy of ©Windjammer-Arts Naval Art & Aviation Art)

Operational and Building Data

Awarded	Laid down	Commissioned
*Gerald R. Ford Class Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier*
31 January 2019	5 April 2022	2028
Builder: Northrop Grumman Newport News, Newport News, VA

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced, 1 December 2012, CVN-80 would be named Enterprise to honor the previous eight American warships of that name.

According to a DoD press release issued on 23 May 2016, the Navy awarded Newport News Shipbuilding a $152-miliion contract to begin advance planning activities. On 31 January 2017, $25.5 million were added as a contract modification.

Enterprise was procured in FY2018. The Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding a contract for two aircraft carriers, CVN-80 and CVN-81, the first of its kind since the 1980s. The company announced, 31 January 2019, that it received a contract modification valued at $15.2 billion for the detail design and construction of these two ships. (Read "Navy Awards Contract for Construction of Two Carriers", at the Navy website.)

HII-NNS laid the keel block of CVN-80 on 5 April 2022, when the ship was about 13% done.

Enterprise will replace USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) upon entering the fleet. As of December 2021, Enterprise was scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in March 2028.

Specifications General Characteristics
(As of December 2005)
Displacement: approximately 100,000 long tons (approximately 101,600 metric tons) full load
Dimensions: 1,092' x 134' (flight deck, 256') / 332.8 x 40.8 (flight deck, 78) meters
Power plant: 2 nuclear reactors; 4 shafts
Speed: 30+ knots
Armament: Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile; Rolling Airframe Missile; CIWS
Aircraft: 75+
Crew: 4,660 (ship, air wing and staff)

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
Namesake
NS020628	117k	CVN-80 will be the ninth American warship to bear the name *Enterprise*. "Enterprise" means "readiness to engage in daring or difficult action." A sloop used during the Revolutionary War A Continental Navy schooner A schooner (1799–1823) A schooner (1831–1844) A screw sloop-of-war A non-commissioned motorboat An aircraft carrier, the most decorated warship of World War II (photo NS020628) The world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (photo NS026509)	Naval History & Heritage Command
NS026509	96k		USN
USN video	--	Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus pays tribute to the past and current crews of USS Enterprise (CVAN/CVN-65), and announces that CVN-80 will be named *Enterprise*, 1 December 2012. U.S. Navy video.	USN
Construction, 2017–
NS028001	181k	A graphic showing what the future USS *Enterprise* (CVN-80) is expected to look like when she joins the fleet after 2025. The aircraft are F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters, F/A-18 E and F Super Hornet strike fighters, E-2D Hawkeye electronic warfare planes, and an unmanned strike jet modeled on the X-47B sitting on the No. 4 catapult. U.S. Navy graphic.	Ron Reeves
NS028001a	129k	"The Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition has asked lawmakers for 'design for affordability' research and development dollars to reduce the cost of building carriers and for advance procurement funding for a block buy of CVN-80 and 81 materials." Read the full story here (18 March 2016).	Tommy Trampp
NS028001b	114k	The future USS *Enterprise* (CVN-80). Courtesy of Newport News Shipbuilding.	Tommy Trampp
NS028002	261k	U.S. Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, left, and Katie Ledecky, ship's sponsors of the future aircraft carrier USS *Enterprise* (CVN-80), and Jennifer Boykin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding, sign a 35-ton steel plate at Newport News Shipbuilding, 24 August 2017, to start advance construction of *Enterprise, the ninth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. Enterprise* will be the third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier. U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries by Matt Hildreth (# 170824-N-N0101-110).	USN
NS028002e	518k	Ship's Sponsors, Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky, give orders to, "Cut that Steel!" Courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding. Photo by Ashley Major, Staff Photographer (# DCS17-546-288).	Bob Haner, YN1, USN (Ret.)
NS028002a	258k	A 35-ton steel plate is displayed at Newport News Shipbuilding division during a ceremony to start advance construction of the aircraft carrier *Enterprise* (CVN-80), 24 August 2017. The steel plate will become part of the foundation of *Enterprise*, the ninth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries by Matt Hildreth (# 170824-N-N0101-111).	David Wright
NS028002c	115k	Image courtesy of Newport News Shipbuilding, a Division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.	Ron Reeves
NS028002b	336k	*Enterprise* (CVN-80) rendering. Image courtesy of Newport News Shipbuilding, a Division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.	Ron Reeves
NS028002d	389k	*Enterprise* (CVN-80) First Cut of Steel, 24 August 2017. Promotional items. Image courtesy of Newport News Shipbuilding, a Division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, by Ashley Major, Staff Photographer (# DCS17-546-64).	Ron Reeves
NS028003	507k	A shipbuilder grinds on a unit of the future USS *Enterprise* (CVN-80) on Platen 21, 27 June 2019. Courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding. Photo by Ashley Cowan (# DCS19-375-26).	Bob Haner, YN1, USN (Ret.)
NS028004	314k	Shipyard worker measures and marks a steel plate that will become part of aircraft carrier *Enterprise* (CVN-80), 2 June 2020. Courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding. Photo by Matt Hildreth.	Bob Haner, YN1, USN (Ret.)
Memorabilia
NS028005	91k	"The future in drawings..."	©Jacques Marquet, via Tommy Trampp
NS028005a	101k	"USS *Enterprise*, The legend will live on..."	©Jacques Marquet, via Tommy Trampp
NS028006	130k	"USS *Enterprise*, Protecting America in the 21st Century and Beyond"	©Nikki SpaceStuffPlus, via Tommy Trampp