According to an initial report from Insider. The United States of America is preparing for an advanced level of military encounters in the future. The Navy has now commenced the building of the fourth carrier of its next-generation set of aircraft carriers, the USS Doris Miller.
The contract for building the fleet is awarded to Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII). The company will construct the vessel within its Newport News facilities, and, in the future, it will also build the new USS Enterprise (CVN-80). The company got this contract in early 2019.
The fleet will be built to honor the efforts of a soldier in Pearl Harbor. The manufacturing process comprises shop work (cutting metal) and structural fabrication. It will be the first fleet to be constructed from digital blueprints and documents. The USS Doris Miller’s keel will be launched in 2026, and the final delivery of the whole project will be done to the US Navy in 2032.
This new fleet will be repairing the old and out-of-date Nimitz-class carriers. Since each one of these old carriers has to be substituted with the new Ford models, the process could remain ongoing till 2058 or even ahead of the year. It will cost around $11 billion to $13 billion per carrier which is the most expensive in its category.
Although the upgrade was much needed, the timing suggests a hint of competition. It was done at the same time when China upgrades its military equipment as well. On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Committee of the U.S. passed a plan from President Biden to allocate $24 billion for the manufacturing of more ships, aircraft, and ground vehicles in the United States armed forces. This shows they are preparing for the worst-case scenarios.
