Too Expensive: The U.S. Navy’s commitment to building expensive Ford-class aircraft carriers, each costing over $12 billion, contrasts sharply with nations like Turkey and Iran, which have developed far cheaper alternatives such as the TCG Anadolu or converted freighters.

-Critics argue that while nuclear-powered supercarriers are unparalleled in their versatility, their relevance in an era of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and asymmetric threats is increasingly questionable.

-With carriers becoming massive targets in future conflicts, it raises doubts about whether the U.S. should continue investing heavily in this Cold War-era concept or pivot to more innovative and cost-effective solutions.

This week, HII announced that its Newport News Shipbuilding division will begin the "concurrent assembly" of two different Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear powered aircraft carriers, with both being built in the same dry dock. The Ford class flattops will begin to replace the aging Nimitz-class aircraft carriers on a one-for-one basis.

"The dual construction of Enterprise (CVN 80) and Doris Miller (CVN 81) is enabled by the successful implementation of the CVN 80/81 two-ship contract modification awarded in 2019 and modifications made to the dry dock by NNS with investment by HII and the U.S. Navy," the company explained.

The goal of this effort is to streamline the production of the two carriers, while saving........

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