Northrop Grumman Awarded $42M Planning Contract

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a planning contract from the U.S. Navy valued at approximately $42 million that will facilitate continued preparations for the overhaul and refueling of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson scheduled for 2004.

This contract is the first modification to one originally awarded in May 2001, bringing the total contract value to date to approximately $52 million. Northrop Grumman's Newport News sector is the prime contractor for this award.

Work to be performed under the contract includes advance planning, design, documentation, engineering, material procurement, shipboard inspections, fabrication and preliminary shipyard or support facility work. This will be the ship's first and only refueling during a service life expected to span approximately 50 years.

Named for former U.S. Congressman Carl Vinson, the carrier Vinson was built at Northrop Grumman Newport News and christened in 1980. The ship was commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1982, and was most recently deployed to the North Arabian Sea in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.