US Navy awards HII refuelling contract for carrier Stennis

The US Navy (USN) awarded the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding yard a USD2.99 billion cost-plus-incentive-fee contract on 19 February for the aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis (CVN 74) Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH).

Under the contract, Newport News Shipbuilding will overhaul and modernise Stennis to support the second half of its 50-year service life.

The yard is the original building yard contractor for all ships of the CVN 68 Nimitz-class of carriers.

Work is expected to be completed by August 2025, the USN reported. Fiscal year 2021 shipbuilding and conversion funds in the amount of USD1 billion will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

The contract was not competitively procured, the USN noted.

“Only one responsible source, Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division, has the knowledge, experience, and facilities required to accomplish this effort in support of the refuelling and overhaul of CVN 74 without an unacceptable disruption of navy-wide overhaul and repair schedule,” the USN said in the service’s contract announcement.

The yard has been prepping for the work for some time, company officials pointed out. “Our teams have spent three years preparing and planning for each step of the process along the way,” Todd West, Newport News Shipbuilding vice president, in-service aircraft carrier programmes, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our work with our suppliers and navy partners in anticipation of the ship’s arrival at Newport News.”

Built at Newport News, Stennis was christened in 1993 and delivered to the navy in 1995. It is the seventh Nimitz-class carrier to undergo this major life-cycle milestone.