Los Angeles: US defence contractor Northrop Grumman said Thursday it has received a $5.1 billion contract to build the US Navy's first next-generation aircraft carrier.

The new aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford (CVN 78), named after the late US president, will be the lead ship in the Navy's newest class of aircraft carrier and will replace USS Enterprise (CVN 65). According to Northrop, the Ford will be the first of a new class of US aircraft carriers in more than 40 years.

The new Ford-class of aircraft carrier will finally replace the Navy's all 11 nuclear-powered Nimitz-class carriers that have been in service since the early 1970s, according to Northrop. The first carrier is expected to launch in 2015.

"When USS Gerald R Ford is delivered to the fleet in 2015, it will bring war-fighting capability and meaningful quality-of-life improvements for sailors, in addition to greatly reduced life-cycle costs," says Navy Capt Brian Antonio, CVN 78 programme manager in the programme executive office for aircraft carriers.

CVN 78 features many improvements over the 1960s Nimitz-class design. They will incorporate many new design features including a new nuclear reactor design (A1B reactor), stealthier features to help reduce radar profile, electromagnetic catapults, advanced arresting gear, and reduced crewing requirements.

The US Navy believes that with the addition of the most modern equipment and extensive use of automation they will be able to reduce the crew requirement and the total cost of future aircraft carriers.

The primary recognition feature compared to earlier super-carriers will be the more aft location of the navigation "island".

Construction of components began in the spring of 2007 and the keel is scheduled to be laid in late 2009. The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2015. It will be constructed at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, the only shipyard in the United States capable of building and refueling nuclear powered aircraft carriers.

The Navy plans to build 11 Ford-class aircraft carriers and construction of the entire series is projected to continue through 2058.