The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Huntington Ingalls a $40.9 modification to a previously awarded contract for the advance planning of the refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73).
According to a Department of Defense statement, the latest contract modification adds additional supplemental material and increases the level of effort during the second and third years of advance planning.
This contract modification also establishes material and level of effort for RCOH pre-planning and shipcheck support of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by August 2017.
An RCOH is a full recapitalization of the ship that represents greater than 35 percent of all maintenance and modernization in an aircraft carrier’s 50-year service life. Work includes the refueling of the ship’s reactors, as well as extensive modernization work to more than 2,300 compartments, 600 tanks and hundreds of distributive systems. In addition, major upgrades are made to the ship’s food service areas, aircraft launch and recovery systems, combat systems and the ship’s island.
An RCOH is done only once in an aircraft carrier’s service life. Back in 2006, the RCOH of the USS Carl Vinson cost the U.S. Navy $3.1 billion dollars.