Next Two Ford-Class carriers named

On Monday, 13 January 2025, the White House announced that the next two Ford-class aircraft carriers will be named after former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The future nuclear-powered carriers, USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) and USS George W. Bush (CVN-83), were named by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, in keeping with the tradition of naming aircraft carriers after US presidents.

While the names have been confirmed, the carriers are not yet under construction, and no contracts have been issued to Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), located in Newport News, Virginia.

HII has proposed that the Navy adopt a block-buy contracting strategy for these carriers, similar to the approach used for the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80) and USS Doris Miller (CVN-81).

During a briefing last week, HII President Chris Kastner expressed the shipbuilder’s preference for CVN-82 to be purchased in Fiscal Year 2028.

Credit photo: US Navy / Jackson Adkins (DVIDS)