# Project 2208 — CVN 21

**Program element:** 0604112N — Gerald R FORD CI NUC Aircraft Carrier CVN 78-80  
**Project:** 2208  
**Component:** U.S. Navy  
**Appropriation:** 1319 — RDT&E, Navy  
**Budget Activity:** 4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604112N/2208  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604112N

## Summary

Project 2208 — CVN 21 requests $81.3M in FY2027, 73% of the $111.2M requested for program element 0604112N, down 10% on FY2026. 4 R-2A activities decompose the request. RTX / Raytheon is the largest named R-3 performer at $24.8M, 31% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 83.9 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 90.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 81.3 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 52.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 53.6 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 54.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 55.0 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0604112N; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 2208 buys

This project provides the development of aircraft carrier specific technologies, the infusion of the ship technology base into existing and future aircraft carriers, and the potential realization of subsystem design capabilities not currently feasible. All systems developed in this project support current or emerging requirements and other promising systems technologies for insertion into existing and new aircraft carrier designs. The emphasis is directed toward developing ship hull, mechanical, propulsion, electrical, aviation, and warfare systems to significantly improve aircraft carrier affordability, manpower requirements, survivability, and operational capabilities required to meet existing and pending regulations and statutes critical to the operation of future aircraft carriers. This project also encompasses those tasks required to support CVN 78 Class procurement, including, but not limited to engineering support, programmatic and program support, logistics support, modeling and simulation, test and evaluation, manpower and program related studies, and design support systems, such as the Integrated Digital Environment (IDE).

**R-3 lines of work:** Product Development; Test and Evaluation.

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| RTX / Raytheon | 24.8 | 31% |
| HII | 20.3 | 25% |
| CACI | 4.3 | 5.3% |
| COMOPTEVFOR | 3.3 | 4.0% |

> Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations. Shares need not reach 100% — unnamed and government work is in the denominator.

## Activities (R-2A) — 4

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVN 78 Class Test & Evaluation (T&E) | 18.5 | 33.1 | 45.3 | +37% | [a1](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604112N/2208/a1) |
| CVN 78 Class Systems Analysis & Total Ship Integration | 21.6 | 25.8 | 19.6 | −24% | [a3](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604112N/2208/a3) |
| CVN 78 Class Digital Transformation | 33.3 | 18.5 | 8.6 | −53% | — |
| CVN 78 Class Transformation and Affordability | 10.6 | 12.9 | 7.8 | −40% | — |

> Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. In the request year they partition this project exactly; in earlier years they can under-cover it.

### CVN 78 Class Test & Evaluation (T&E)

Due to changes in the operational schedule of CVN 78, Operational Testing (OT) was not finalized. Continue Seastrike Seabasing Aviation Model (SSAM) analysis to demonstrate Ford Class SGR Key Performance Parameter (KPP). Complete initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) analysis and reporting. Continue reliability, availability…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604112N/2208/a1

### CVN 78 Class Systems Analysis & Total Ship Integration

Continue to perform technical analysis and engineering calculations in support of System/Component, Environmental Safety and Health Qualification, and Human Factors Engineering, Ship/System/Component Survivability and Vulnerability Qualification, System/Component Shock and Vibration Qualification. Continue to address design and…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604112N/2208/a3

### CVN 78 Class Digital Transformation

**FY2027 planned work.** Continue CVN 80/81 FY26 Integrated Digital Shipbuilding (iDS) implementation plan and execute the installment obligation per the contract. This effort will enable HII-NNS to achieve 2 ship-buy savings and drive the modernization of the shipbuilding base. iDS Products are directly tied to construction needs and are issued to the individual trades which utilize them on the deck plate to support the CVN 80/81 build on the waterfront. Failure to fully fund installment clause and variance would result in a change to the contract as funding requirements would not be met. HII-NNS is continually looking at ways to increase efficiency of developing iDS products through upgrades to their Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) toolsets, Model Based Enterprise methodology, and leased labor initiatives.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Budget decrease in FY 2027 funding is due to the Program Office executing the installment per the contractual phasing plan.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue CVN 80/81 FY 2025 Integrated Digital Shipbuilding (iDS) implementation plan and execute the installment obligation per the contract. This effort will enable HII-NNS to achieve 2 ship-buy savings and drive the modernization of the shipbuilding base. iDS Products are directly tied to construction needs and are issued to the individual trades which utilize them on the deck plate to support the CVN 80/81 build on the waterfront. Failure to fully fund installment clause and variance would result in a change to the contract as funding requirements would not be met. HII-NNS is continually looking at ways to increase efficiency of developing iDS products through upgrades to their Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) toolsets, Model Based Enterprise methodology, and other resource planning software.

### CVN 78 Class Transformation and Affordability

**FY2027 planned work.** Continue to provide support for Ford Class affordability and future technology transformation initiatives which includes Air Wing of the Future, Additive Manufacturing activities, studies in support of new and updated program of record GFE systems, AWE production improvements, and control system software commonality to future reduce total ownership cost. Continue the development of cost saving initiatives, process improvements, business case analyses, and design for affordability initiatives to continue to drive affordability into the carrier program.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Budget decrease in FY2027 funding is due to the maturation of design changes under development and transition of some cost savings and producibility initiatives into the active construction contracts for CVN 79, CVN 80 and CVN 81; and incorporation into the technical baselines for future CVN procurements.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** Continue to provide support for Ford Class affordability and future technology transformation initiatives which includes items Air Wing of the Future, Additive Manufacturing activities, studies in support of new and updated program of record government furnished equipment (GFE) systems Advanced Weapons Elevators (AWE) production improvements and control system software commonality to future reduce total ownership cost. Continue the development of cost saving initiatives, process improvements, business case analyses, and design for affordability initiatives to continue to drive affordability into the carrier program.

## What is NOT on this page

Congressional marks, the R-2 mission description and acquisition strategy, the industry vs government split of the whole request, and related program elements are recorded at **program-element** grain — an NDAA mark lands on a PE, never on a project. They are at https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604112N.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Navy RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0604112N project 2208 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0604112N")`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*