Huntington Ingalls Industries has received a U.S. Navy advance planning contract for construction of a third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier.

The carrier, the future USS Enterprise, is scheduled to undergo construction beginning in 2018. Its delivery to the Navy is expected in 2027.

"We are eager to begin planning and purchasing long-lead-time material for the next Enterprise," said Mike Shawcross, HII's Newport News Shipbuilding vice president of CVN 79 and CVN 80 construction. "Advance planning allows us to begin applying lessons learned from CVN 78 and CVN 79 more effectively, while providing stability to our workforce and the industrial base, in order to deliver the ship at the lowest cost possible."

Work under the $12 million advance planning contract includes engineering, design, planning and procurement of long-lead-time material.

Gerald R. Ford-class carriers, which will replace some Nimitz-class carriers, are 1,106 feet long, have a speed of more than 30 knots and can carry more than 75 aircraft.