HII awarded contract for aircraft carrier maintenance in San Diego

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) division Newport News Shipbuilding has been awarded a contract for the maintenance, repair and modernisation efforts on Nimitz- and Gerald R Ford-class aircraft carriers home-ported in and visiting the San Diego area.

The IDIQ, cost-plus incentive and award contract has a potential value of $528.4 million over five years if all options are exercised. It will support emergent work and continuous maintenance availabilities, as well as Chief of Naval Operations scheduled availabilities.

There are four planned in the Ford class with Gerald R Ford commissioned in 2017 with the next expected to be commissioned in 2024 and the remainder at four-yearly intervals after that.

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The second carrier, USS John F Kennedy, began construction in February 2011, while its keel was laid down in 2015 and it was launched in December 2019, when it began testing three months ahead of schedule. The ship was expected to be delivered to the navy in September 2024 before the planned retirement of the USS Nimitz.

There have been ten ships commissioned in the Nimitz class, the first in 1975 and the last in 2009. Because of the 50-year expected service life of the class, the carriers were always planned to get a mid-life refit and complex overhaul period that includes a refuelling of the nuclear reactor and a more in-depth upgrade and modernisation package than it would normally get lasting 3-4 years.

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Gerald R. Ford Class (CVN 82 - CVN 83) [USN]

Gerald R. Ford Class (CVN 79 to CVN 81) [USN]

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Nimitz Class