CVN 80

It's just not right if there is no flat top Big E in the fleet...

I assume it can reach warp 6, at least.

Yeah, while it sad to see her retired, you can only go so far with the old lady. Technology outruns even the grandest of ship designs... 51 years at time of inactivation. That's an impressive record. But the cost of another major slep-type overhaul would have easily been 70% or more of new construction costs and her reactors as well as the basic ship's structure would still be half a century old. :(

I know... it was time for a new one... CV-6... CVN-65... and now CVN 80...

As I understand it, she will be the third ship of the new Gerald Ford class incorporating among other new technologies, electro magnetic catapults. Wonder if that will eliminate the cold cat shots of previous designs?

The system is called the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) . It has a lot of advantages over the older steam system. Most newer CVN will have them retrofit.  

The reactors on Enterprise were of a different design than the type used on the Nimitz class. There are some big cost savings in shutting down the supply chain and training school for the older reactor type.