Carrier Gerald R. Ford remains 'biggest challenge' for Newport News Shipbuilding's parent company Huntington Ingalls Industries

Building a new class of aircraft carrier was only half the challenge for Newport News Shipbuilding. Now all the new pieces have to work together.

Sunday marked one year since the christening of aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, and the ship came up for discussion Thursday at the Goldman Sachs Industrials Conference in Boston, which heard a presentation from Mike Petters, president and chief executive officer of the shipyard's parent company, Huntington Ingalls Industries.

Petters was asked what concerns and challenges would occupy HII going forward, and Petters said one of its biggest upcoming challenges concerns the first-in-class Ford, which it expects to deliver to the Navy in 2016.

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