The U.S. Navy has awarded
Northrop Grumman Corporation a contract valued at
approximately $1.94 billion for the refueling and complex overhaul of
the aircraft carrier USS
Carl Vinson (CVN 70).
The work will be performed by the company’s Newport News sector
and will include the refueling of the ship’s reactors, as well as
extensive modernization work to more than 2,300 compartments and
hundreds of systems. In addition, nearly 3,000 valves will be replaced
and another 600 will be overhauled in various ship systems. Major
upgrades will be made to the flight deck, catapults, combat systems and
the island. The top two levels of the island will be removed and
replaced with a reconfigured structure to provide enhanced operability
and support a new antenna mast designed for more modern sensors.
“This project is very large and complex, and requires a
tremendous Newport News and Navy team effort,” said Ken Mahler, vice
president of aircraft carrier overhauls for Northrop Grumman Newport
News. “We’ll touch almost every piece of the ship, refurbishing
existing equipment and installing the latest advancements in technology
to increase and modernize Vinson’s capabilities and mission
effectiveness when she returns to the fleet for another 23 years of
service.”
Work is scheduled to last more than three years and will be the
ship's one and only refueling and complex overhaul in a 50-year life
span. Vinson is the third ship of the Nimitz class to undergo this
major life-cycle milestone. The ship arrived at the company’s Newport
News sector on Nov. 11. More than 3,500 Northrop Grumman Newport News
employees will be working aboard Vinson during peak periods of the
project.
Named for former U.S. Rep. Carl Vinson, the carrier Vinson was
built at Northrop Grumman Newport News and christened in 1980. The
congressman attended the christening ceremony at age 96 and became the
first living American to have a Navy ship named in his honor. The ship
was commissioned by the Navy in 1982.