Navy delays $4 billion aircraft carrier deal

The Navy will delay by as much as a year awarding Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. a contract for at least $4 billion to start construction on the second vessel in a new class of aircraft carriers, according to U.S. officials.

Award of the "detail design and construction" contract for the USS John F. Kennedy, designated CVN-79, was planned for this month until recently, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because the postponement hasn't been announced.

The Navy is grappling in a time of budget cuts with how to pay for a shipbuilding plan that anticipates $43 billion for three carriers in the new class, as well as $34 billion for 52 Littoral Combat Ships and the costs, not yet estimated, for a 12-vessel nuclear submarine fleet to replace the Ohio-class subs.

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