Politics
Navy's Troubled $11 Billion Carrier Falters on Another Milestone
- Huntington Ingalls, Navy negotiated 18% labor-hour reduction
- At 16% reduction so far, meeting the Navy goal is questioned
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Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., the sole U.S. builder of aircraft carriers, continues to fall short of the Navy’s demand to cut labor expenses to stay within an $11.39 billion cost cap mandated by Congress on the second in a new class of warships.
With about 47 percent of construction complete on the USS John F. Kennedy, Navy figures show the contractor isn’t yet meeting the goal it negotiated with the service: reducing labor hours by 18 percent from the first carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, which at $13 billion has become the costliest warship ever. They’re the first two of a planned, four-vessel, $55 billion program.