NORFOLK -- Moving an aircraft carrier out of Norfolk will hit the economy of Hampton Roads hard.

"We know that if you send a 3,000-man carrier, just the carrier without the air group, to Mayport, Florida, that it’s going to have, just that alone, a very significant impact,” says Dr. Gil Yochum, an ODU economics professor.

That’s what state and local leaders are fighting to stop but are bracing for following the decision by Navy Secretary Donald Winter to move a carrier no earlier than 2014. 

The Navy cites “strategic dispersal" of the fleet as a factor, saying it will reduce the risk to the fleet in the event of a national disaster or an attack by terrorists.

Video: Lawmakers to fight plans to move carrier from Norfolk

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"It makes no sense in terms of military validity or strategic validity. It's a political move and it should not be allowed to happen," adds Sen. Jim Webb, (D-Virginia), a former Navy secretary.

A bi-partisan group of Virginia lawmakers is sending a letter to President-elect Barack Obama and planning a series of hearings to grill Navy officials on the recommendation.

The Mayport move will cost taxpayers a half-billion dollars to make Florida base nuclear-capable. 

"It's not just that we disagree with the move, the move just doesn't pass the smell test.  What we're all looking for is what's in the best interest of the Navy and the national defense of this country. We think this is a terrible decision and it has too much politics in it," said Rep. Randy Forbes (R-4th District).

Economists have predicted that a carrier loss would equate to a minimum loss of 5,000 jobs and $188 million in annual payroll from the the region's economy.  

The Navy’s four nuclear-powered carriers are homeported in Norfolk; the fifth, USS George H.W. Bush, will be commissioned in January.
The Navy hasn’t said which carrier it would move to Florida.