The revised timeline means construction of the carrier will take 15 years from the start of work through delivery to the Navy. The Navy said the delay was linked to shipyard construction limitations affecting module production for the vessel.
“The CVN-81 delivery date shifted from February 2032 to February 2034 due to shipbuilder construction footprint constraints limiting their ability to build CVN-81 ship modules,” the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2027 shipbuilding budget document stated.
USS Doris Miller is the fourth aircraft carrier in the Gerald R. Ford class and was purchased together with the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80) under a block-buy agreement announced in 2019. The arrangement was intended to reduce procurement costs for the two carriers.
HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division said delays affecting Enterprise had contributed to capacity constraints for Doris Miller. According to company officials, those issues limited the ability to carry out initial structural work for CVN-81 in dry dock facilities.
“CVN-81’s construction schedule has been affected by the cascading impact of CVN-80 delays on shipyard footprint capacity,” Newport News Shipbuilding spokesperson Todd Corillo said in a statement to USNI News. “In turn, these capacity constraints have hindered initial CVN-81 structural build in the dry dock. We expect to host the keel laying this year.”
Newport News Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said during HII’s Fiscal Year 2026 first-quarter earnings call that work on the ship continued ahead of keel laying planned later this year. “CVN-81 units continue to move through steel fabrication and outfitting in support of the keel laying later this year,” Wilkinson said.
The future USS Enterprise is also facing delays, with delivery shifting from July 2030 to March 2031, according to Navy budget documents. The revised schedule means construction of Enterprise will take just over 12 years.
“The CVN-80 delivery date shifted from July 2030 to March 2031 due to delay in critical path construction required for launch of the ship,” the Navy documents stated.
Corillo said delays to Enterprise were caused by late deliveries of key equipment needed during early construction stages. “CVN-80 construction delays result from late arrival of large, sequence-critical equipment that hindered the initial structural build of the ship in the dry dock,” he said. “All of the delayed critical material has since arrived.”
Wilkinson told investors that supply chain problems had forced the shipyard to carry out parts of Enterprise’s construction out of sequence, contributing to schedule disruptions. “We have been on previous calls talking about some of that missing equipment down low on the ship and having that equipment delivered now and being on pace to erect out the ship is really going to help us from a performance perspective,” Wilkinson said. “Those delays are costly, as you’re familiar.”
All Ford-class carriers under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding have experienced delays in recent years. The future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), the second carrier in the class, has also faced multiple schedule revisions and is currently expected to be delivered in March 2027, extending its construction timeline to about 16 years.
“Our shipbuilders are working alongside our U.S. Navy teammates and industry partners with urgency and resolve to deliver the submarines and aircraft carriers our nation needs,” Corillo said. “We are holding ourselves accountable to complete these important national security assets as quickly as possible by addressing production and supply base challenges impacting submarine and aircraft carrier programs.”
Source: USNI News.
