$12.9B, 4.5 acres: Navy’s next-generation aircraft carrier
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Navy refers to its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, as “4.5 acres of sovereign U.S. territory.” The $12.9 billion warship — the first of the Navy’s next generation of aircraft carriers — is in the final stages of construction after cost overruns and a delay of more than one year.
This carrier and those that will follow, including the USS John F. Kennedy and the USS Enterprise, will replace the Nimitz-class carriers, which were first commissioned in 1975.