NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The newest aircraft carrier, CVN-80, is currently being built from the ground up at Newport News Shipbuilding.
CVN-80, named the Enterprise, will have its keel laid Saturday, August 27, in a ceremony.
“Actually getting to see all the stuff come to life, all the stuff that we build, the elevators, the catapults, all the systems on board and you get to see it, you’re not just putting a piece of metal all together it actually has a purpose,” said welding foreman Rodney Taylor.
The name Enterprise goes back hundreds of years.
“This will be the ninth ship to bear the name and enterprise has been in the navy since 1775, the history of this namesake is literally the history of the United States Navy,” said Captain Brian Metcalf, Gerald R. Ford-class program manager.
The carrier is the first to be built entirely off digital renderings- no paper blueprints are involved.
“The technology, how much it’s grown since then where we started with sails, went to steam, and now we’re using electronics, it’s just phenomenal to see that growth and how we’ve adapted through the times,” said Todd Meier.
Meier worked on CVN-65 as enlisted Navy, and is now working on CVN-80 as a facilities engineer.
“It’s really an awesome responsibility to see the next generation of the Enterprise name carry on," Meier said.
According to Brian Fields, Newport News Shipbuilding Vice President, the ship will be erected in a dry dock and will be launched in a couple years. He said the Enterprise will still have to go through testing before it's handed over to the Navy.
