The initial, or preliminary, design phase for the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) was completed around 2008, when the Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a contract for its detail design and construction, following earlier conceptualization in the early 2000s. The Navy then continued to develop the design by awarding further contracts for design efforts in 2010 and made a significant number of design changes to address problems with the ship's main turbine generators discovered in 2016.
Design and Development Timeline:
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The Ford class was conceived to address evolving threats and provide a high-end warfighting platform.
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Northrop Grumman received a contract for the detail design and construction of the carrier, marking the completion of the initial design phase.
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Additional contracts were awarded to Northrop Grumman to continue the engineering and design work for the USS Gerald R. Ford.
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Major design changes were required to fix issues with the ship's main turbine generators, and these modifications were completed and verified by May 2017.
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The USS Gerald R. Ford was formally delivered to the Navy and commissioned, a process that required installing the new components and resolving issues found during the initial design and construction phase
