Structural work progresses on future aircraft carrier John F Kennedy

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has announced that 70 per cent of the structures necessary to complete the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F Kennedy (CVN 79) have been built.

John F Kennedy is being built with a modular construction technique where smaller sections of the ship are welded together to form larger structures called superlifts.

They are pre-outfitted and hoisted into Newport News Shipbuilding division’s Dry Dock 12 by the company’s 1,050-tonne gantry crane.

Shipbuilders have successfully erected 317 of 447 lifts since the ship’s keel was laid in August 2015.

CVN 79 Program Director Mike Butler said the recent 806-tonne superlift consisted of 17 individual units and measured 52.1 metres by 28 metres. The structure comprises berthing areas, electrical equipment rooms and workshops, and took 18 months to build.

“This superlift is in the forward part of the ship, about halfway between the bow and midship,” said Mr Butler.

John F Kennedy is scheduled for launch in 2020.