US Navy advances 100,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with $336 million HII contract

Military shipbuilding company HII has received a $336 million contract from the US Navy to begin procuring long-lead materials for CVN 82, the next planned nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the US fleet. The contract award covers advanced procurement of propulsion plant materials that will be required for the carrier’s future construction at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. Securing these long-lead components early is intended to help keep the CVN-82 program on schedule as the carrier moves toward full-scale construction. Starting the procurement process years ahead of major construction allows the Navy and shipbuilder to secure specialized components that require lengthy manufacturing and delivery schedules. It also provides an early signal to the network of suppliers supporting the US aircraft carrier industrial base, which spans thousands of companies across the country. Propulsion materials come first The $336 million award is focused on long-lead-time materials (LLTM) associated with CVN 82’s propulsion plant. These components must be ordered well before they are installed because nuclear-powered aircraft carriers require highly specialized equipment and materials that can take years to manufacture, qualify and deliver. Beginning procurement at this stage is therefore an important early milestone for the future carrier. The materials will support the propulsion systems that will eventually provide power for the ship and its onboard systems while allowing it to operate for extended periods without conventional fuel for propulsion. Bryan Caccavale, Newport News Shipbuilding’s vice president of program management, described the procurement as a first step in planning for CVN 82 and said it would provide an important demand signal to suppliers supporting the aircraft carrier industrial base. The contract is an undefinitized contract award, meaning that the Navy has authorized work to begin before all contractual terms and the final price have been negotiated. Building the next generation of nuclear carriers CVN 82 will continue the US Navy’s fleet of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, which form the centerpiece of its global power-projection capability. The carriers operate as mobile air bases, supporting fighter aircraft, surveillance platforms and other aviation assets far from US territory. The new carrier will be part of the Navy’s broader effort to sustain its nuclear carrier fleet while continuing construction at Newport News, the only US shipyard capable of building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. For HII, the contract also shows the scale of the industrial infrastructure required to build a modern carrier. Newport News Shipbuilding works with a large nationwide supplier network, while the shipyard itself handles the complex integration of the vessel’s nuclear propulsion, hull, aviation systems and other major components. HII is the largest US military shipbuilder and also works on unmanned systems, C6ISR, electronic warfare, AI and other defense technologies. The company has been investing in automation and new manufacturing methods as the Navy seeks to increase shipbuilding throughput and expand the capacity of the US maritime industrial base. Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Bojan Stojkovski is a freelance journalist based in Skopje, North Macedonia, covering foreign policy and technology for more than a decade. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, ZDNet, and Nature.