Navy awards HII pre-advance planning funds for CVN-74 midlife refueling

The Navy awarded a $15 million contract modification to Huntington Ingalls Industries for the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis (CVN-74) midlife refueling.

The Stennis and George Washington (CVN-73) will have an eight-month overlap at Newport News Shipbuilding, an unusually long period, Chris Miner, vice president for in-service aircraft carrier programs at NNS, told Inside the Navy Aug. 22.

"It's definitely longer, but we know it's coming so we will be able to manage it," he said at the time.

The Navy decided to postpone the Stennis refueling and complex overhaul by 10 months because of fleet needs and workload at NNS, Vice. Adm. Thomas Moore, Naval Sea Systems Command chief, said in June.

Miner said the service would use the additional time Stennis is in the fleet for carrier qualifications.

In May, the Navy released its fiscal year 2018 budget, which lays the blueprint for a request of more than $5 billion in FY-21 to pay for the RCOH of CVN-74.

The RCOH work includes refueling the ship's reactor as well as repairing and upgrading the main propulsion equipment to provide for reliable operations during the remainder of the Stennis' service life.