The Navy is taking the first concrete step toward a two-ship carrier purchase by releasing a request for proposals last week to Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding to analyze the potential cost savings. Navy acquisition executive Hondo Geurts told reporters during a March 19 roundtable at the Pentagon that in keeping with the National Defense Strategy, the service developed an acquisition plan to combine CVN-80 and CVN-81 procurements. "This opportunity for a two-ship contract is dependent on significant savings...