The talk of a block buy will be welcome news to the industrial base, which has been lobbying the Pentagon for years to repeat the strategy it used for the third and fourth carriers in the class.
Navy officials have stressed during the budget rollout many 'hard decisions' were made due to the defense spending caps in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.
“When we deviate from that schedule that’s been previously identified, that is where the 'going cold' starts to come into play,” said Lisa Papini, chairwoman of ACIBC. “And that’s where the concern is on that schedule.”