Newport News Shipbuilding has awarded the Dresser-Rand Company a $9 million contract for the initial phases of production of the main propulsion turbines for the U.S. Navy's Nimitz Class CVN-77 nuclear powered aircraft carrier.

Dresser-Rand's Wellsville, New York, operation will build four high-pressure steam turbines and four low-pressure steam turbines with a combined output of more than a quarter-million horsepower. Each pair of high and low pressure steam turbines are in a cross compound configuration and drive a 30-ton-plus propeller through double reduction gears. The ship's top speed is in excess of 30 knots.

CVN 77's keel will be laid in 2003. The launch is scheduled for 2005, with delivery in 2007 or early 2008. Newport News Shipbuilding is the shipbuilder for the CVN 77, and built all of the Nimitz class carriers. The CVN 77's two nuclear reactors will allow the ship to steam for more than one million miles before refueling. The carrier will have an overall length of 1,092 feet and an extreme width of 252 feet to accommodate 80 aircraft on board and a flight deck of 4.5 acres. The ship will house 6,250 naval personnel