Image Credits: Wikipedia The construction timeline for the fourth Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier being built for the US Navy has been delayed by at least two years, extending the delivery of the future USS Doris Miller (CVN-81) to February 2034. According to the US Navy’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget documents cited by USNI News, the revised schedule means the carrier will take around 15 years to complete from the beginning of construction to delivery. The US Navy said the delay was caused by construction space limitations at the shipyard, which affected the building of modules for the carrier. The ship is being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News. The US Navy’s Ford-class aircraft carrier programme has faced repeated delays due to supply chain problems, worker shortages and construction issues. The Navy stated that the delivery date shifted from February 2032 to February 2034 because “shipbuilder construction footprint constraints” limited the yard’s ability to build modules for CVN-81. Todd Corillo, spokesperson for Newport News Shipbuilding, told USNI News that delays involving the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80) affected available capacity at the shipyard and slowed early construction work on Doris Miller inside the dry dock. The shipyard still expects to hold the keel laying ceremony for Doris Miller later this year, while fabrication and outfitting work continues. The future Enterprise has also been delayed. The carrier is now scheduled for delivery in March 2031 instead of July 2030. According to the Navy’s budget documents, delays to Enterprise were caused by the late arrival of large equipment needed during key stages of construction. Corillo said all delayed critical material for Enterprise has now arrived. During Huntington Ingalls Industries’ earnings call, Newport News Shipbuilding president Kari Wilkinson said supply chain problems forced the yard to build some sections of Enterprise out of sequence, whi