The U.S. Navy has funded an $860.6 million contract modification to a previously awarded contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. for continued work on the futuristic CVN 21 aircraft carrier program.

The base contract modification is valued at roughly $754 million with an additional $106.7 million in options. This expected additional work brings the total value of the contract to $2.2 billion, according to the company.

"We are making good progress on the design," said Mike Shawcross, vice president of the CVN 21 program for Northrop Grumman Newport News. "We're more than 50 percent complete with the overall design," he said late Nov. 30.

The contract modification will carry the company through 2007 to the next major milestone, when it establishes the construction contract for the first ship in the class, CVN 78, Shawcross said.

The work will be performed in Newport News, Va. (90 percent) and Groton, Conn. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2007, according to a Defense Department announcement Nov. 30. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting agency.

Planning and design

Last month, Northrop Grumman received a $24.6 million Navy contract for planning and design for CVN 79, the second aircraft carrier of the program (DAILY, Nov. 20).

Advance construction began in 2005 for the CVN 78. The work allows shipbuilders to test the design-build strategy before overall construction begins in 2008, the company said of the latest award.

Northrop Grumman said its work includes the continuation of ship design activities, procurement of long-lead time materials to support construction, and advanced construction work on select parts of the ship.

Specifically, according to the DOD, the latest award covers long-lead time material and non-nuclear advance construction, as well as system development, engineering services, and feasibility studies for the Future Aircraft Carrier Program. Also, it will provide all CVN 21 services and material in preparation for ship construction, which is planned to start in fiscal 2008.

That includes the necessary research studies, engineering, design, related development efforts including required Engineering Development Models and prototypes for engineered components, advanced planning and procurement for detailed design and procurement and fabrication of long-lead material, advanced construction, system specifications, design weight estimate, logistics data, lists of government-furnished equipment, production planning, further definition of initiatives to class total ownership costs, and other data to support an integrated product data environment for CVN 21.