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| Carrier's cost rises $869.9 million |
| 2005-03-02 |
| Fred, also from the fleet PAO, don't have link, sorry for length. Edit/delete at will. NEWPORT NEWS -- The George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier needs $869.9 million between 2006 and 2008 to cover cost overruns and other increases encountered during the ship's construction, according to details of the budget proposal President Bush recently submitted to Congress. If lawmakers agree to grant the money, the total government price tag for the nuclear-powered carrier, now the biggest project under way at Northrop Grumman Newport News, would rise to $5.89 billion, a 17.3 percent increase over last year's projection of $5.02 billion. The Navy said in its request that the $869.9 million needed for the Bush is necessary "to compensate for ... cost increases resulting from unbudgeted escalation funds, increased labor hours to construct the ship, increased material costs and to cover maximum government liability." That's a change from a year ago - when the Navy didn't anticipate the Bush needed any more money before its delivery to the Navy in 2008. |
| Posted by:longtime lurker |
| #13 I worked at Newport News Shipbuilding. Nice to know they are still singing the same song. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2005-03-02 5:37:39 PM |
| #12 U.S.S. Clinton? o.k, o.k., how about the U.S.S. Nixon? You guys are so hard to please... |
| Posted by: shellback 2005-03-02 5:11:31 PM |
| #11 Dammit, Bushrod. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-03-02 4:43:38 PM |
| #10 I like the name "General Budhrod Johnson". I know he was only a General in the Confederate Army but the name has a certain ring to it. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-03-02 4:01:26 PM |
| #9 I could go for the Cal Coolidge. Also in that class should be the Grover Cleveland, for the last small government Democrat, and the James K. Polk, for the President who promised to serve for one term only, won a war, expanded the size of the country substantially, and served only one term, and the William McKinley who won a war and established Republican domination for a generation. By then we should be ready for the CVNX-5, the W. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-03-02 4:00:14 PM |
| #8 I think the CVN-78, the USS William Howard Taft, should be built solely for service in the Great Lakes. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-03-02 3:25:09 PM |
| #7 I tell you what, we'll pony up for the extra costs, if you rename the damned thing after someone decently dead and in the grave. I think that "Calvin Coolidge" is free if you want to stick with the presidential naming scheme. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2005-03-02 3:16:48 PM |
#6 CVNX, the centerpiece of the Navy's next generation carrier Fleet, will be a large-deck, nuclear-powered ship. This next generation aircraft carrier will be achieved at an affordable,.. Heh, I don't believe that for a second. If anything, it'll be over budget like a lot of other military procurements. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-02 2:43:30 PM |
| #5 The GB is supposed to be electromagnetic cat ready. I hear roumour that it can throw a fully loaded (including power windows) VistaCruiser beyond the horizon. Aviators should be worried. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-03-02 2:21:35 PM |
| #4 Not exactly right around the corner but definitely looking forward to the CVNX. Electromagnetic Catapults? Improved crew habitability? Can't wait to see it. |
| Posted by: shellback 2005-03-02 12:57:43 PM |
| #3 You think this one is over budget and behind schedule, the next carrier is going to be the first of the new CVN/CVNX class: CVNX, the centerpiece of the Navy's next generation carrier Fleet, will be a large-deck, nuclear-powered ship. This next generation aircraft carrier will be achieved at an affordable, evolutionary pace beginning with CVN 77. CVN 77 will have a newly designed and integrated combat system that eliminates rotating antennas. CVNX 1 will incorporate this new CVN 77 integrated combat system, and will add both a new nuclear propulsion plant and a new electrical power and distribution system. The new nuclear propulsion plant will provide immediate warfighting enhancements, immediate life cycle cost reductions, and will enable future warfighting enhancements and further life cycle cost reductions. Subsequent carriers will feature additional new technologies including an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS), an Electromagnetic Aircraft Recovery System (EARS), improved crew habitability, survivability improvements, performance improvements, and new functional arrangements and distributed systems. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-03-02 12:27:28 PM |
| #2 That's how it goes in building carriers. It may be expensive, and hey, it might not be ready on time, but dammit, we'll sure be happy to see her when she gets here. Now, as long as the shipyard doesn't go on strike in the next two years... |
| Posted by: shellback 2005-03-02 11:28:59 AM |
| #1 Tuesday, yard spokeswoman Jennifer Dellapenta added: "We have worked with our Navy partner in developing and implementing solutions for the various challenges that have arisen when building a ship as complex as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier." The warfare and communications system issues, she said, are not atypical of the challenges the program has faced or will continue to face before it’s delivered. In other words, the government has been tinkering with the design even after construction has begun, like it always does, resulting in the price being driven up. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-02 10:14:16 AM |