Newport News Shipbuilding won a $528.4 million contract to maintain U.S. Navy aircraft carriers in California, according to a Monday Pentagon contract announcement.
If all the contract options are executed, the aircraft carrier builder will be responsible for the maintenance of carriers berthed at Naval Air Station North Island, short of a dry dock availability, until 2028, according to the announcement.
The contract covers, “emergent work, continuous maintenance availabilities, pre-refueling complex overhaul availabilities, and Chief of Naval Operations scheduled availabilities for Navy aircraft carriers homeported in and visiting the San Diego, California, area,” reads the announcement.
In a statement, HII said the contract would cover both Nimitz and Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carriers that pass through San Diego. That will include the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) – the first Ford-class carrier to be based on the West Coast. The work will also cover work for USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) to prepare the carrier for its mid-life refueling and overhaul when the carrier returns from Japan and before it sails to Newport News.
The contract does not cover the dry dock availability for West Coast carriers. The carriers that require a dry dock availability head to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Washington State.
HII has been the prime contractor for the carrier work for more than 20 years and recompeted for the maintenance contract.
