Construction is well underway at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division on the next Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN 80).

Not only will this aircraft carrier carry on the legacy of previous Navy ships named Enterprise, the shipyard is also making history with how CVN 80 is being built.

Check out this story from Straight Arrow News to learn about how Enterprise is the first aircraft carrier not only designed digitally, but also being built digitally using visual work instructions on laptops and tablets rather than paper drawings.

US Navy’s new aircraft carrier first to be designed, built digitally

(June 7, 2023 by Ryan Robertson)

Aircraft carriers represent the pinnacle of a nation’s naval power. For the last century, naval dominance was defined by the strength of carrier fleets. Now, it’s time for carrier design and construction to sail into the 21st century.

HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division is a storied shipyard. Every nuclear-powered carrier sailing in the U.S. Navy was built there. USS Enterprise (CVN 80), the Ford-class carrier currently being built at Newport News, is the first carrier to be completely designed and built digitally.

Instead of complicated, two-dimensional designs printed out on giant reams of paper, shipbuilders are given tablets.

Click here to read the full story from Straight Arrow News and watch a video featuring NNS vice president Brian Fields talking about digital shipbuilding.