Block buy of fifth, sixth Ford-class carriers could yield $5B in savings: Senior Navy official
The talk of a block buy will be welcome news to the industrial base, which has been lobbying the Pentagon for years to repeat the strategy it used for the third and fourth carriers in the class.
By Justin Katz
on June 05, 2025 at 10:15 AM
The Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is one of the US Navy’s newest and most technologically advanced aircraft carriers. (Photo by Justin Katz/Breaking Defense.)
WASHINGTON — A block buy of the fifth and sixth Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers stands to save the US Navy approximately $5 billion compared to purchasing the ships individually, the service’s acting acquisition executive told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Brett Seidle discussed the expected savings while testifying about the Navy’s budget request alongside the Navy and Marine Corps’ top requirements officers, Vice Adm. James Pitts and Lt. Gen. Eric Austin.
A block buy refers to an acquisition strategy of purchasing multiple ships under one contract; in this case, the contract would include the future USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) and USS George W. Bush (CVN-83). Block buys are a favored acquisition strategy for the US Navy and industry alike because, from the service’s standpoint, buying materials in bulk results in a lower bottom line price. Meanwhile for industry, locking in years-worth of orders early brings the stability shipbuilders crave.
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/06/block-buy-of-fifth-sixth-ford-class-carriers-could-yield-5b-in-savings-senior-navy-official/
