US Navy awards US$5.1 billion contract to overhaul USS Harry S. Truman

The US Navy has awarded a contract worth up to US$5.18 billion to HII's Newport News Shipbuilding for the Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).

Commissioned in 1998, the nuclear-powered carrier arrived at the Virginia shipyard on September 30 to begin this major maintenance and modernization phase. The overhaul includes refueling the ship's two nuclear reactors and performing extensive repairs to the propulsion plant, electrical systems, combat systems, and aircraft launch and recovery equipment. The project is intended to extend the vessel's service life by approximately 25 years, keeping it operational into the late 2040s.

The decision to proceed with the overhaul follows a 2020 budget proposal that had suggested decommissioning the carrier by 2024. That proposal was abandoned in 2019 following opposition in Congress. The RCOH process transitions the ship from its pre-overhaul preparation period into the intensive shipyard production phase.