NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A major milestone is at hand for Hampton Roads' largest industrial employer.
Newport News Shipbuilding hosted the keel laying ceremony for the nation's next Navy aircraft carrier on Saturday. And its name ought to have a pretty familiar ring to it.
Enterprise is a legendary name in U.S. Naval lore. And it is about to make a major comeback.
CVN-80, the third in the Ford-class of Navy aircraft carriers, will be the latest in a long line of Enterprises.
"This will be the ninth ship to bear the name," said Captain Brian Metcalf, Ford-class program manager. "Enterprise has been in the Navy since 1775."
The skeleton of the last Enterprise, CVN -65, rests in the James River, inactivated in 2012 and awaiting dismantling.
Todd Meier served on that Enterprise and is now a facilities engineer working on this one.
"It was really fulfilling to see that name carry on because there's so much legacy behind that name," he said.
For now, the new Enterprise looks less like a ship and more like random hunks of steel piled up at the bottom of the drydock.
Despite appearances, it is said to already be 15% complete and ahead of schedule.
Shipyard executives said they've taken the hard lessons learned from the construction challenges with the first two Ford-class carriers, and they're applying them to this vessel, improving on taxpayer costs and worker safety.
"Anything that we learned as we're building a ship, we roll into the plans for the next ship," said Brian Fields, Newport News Shipbuilding vice president. "Don't repeat, don't hit that same pothole next time."
The new $12 billion Enterprise is expected to be delivered to the Navy in 2028.
Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky are the ship's sponsors.
Ledecky will participate in the keel-laying ceremony in person. Biles will participate via video.