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Washington — The Navy has awarded a $5.1 billion Fixed Ceiling Incentive contract to HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding to conduct the Refueling and Complex Overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).
The multi‑year availability will refuel the ship’s nuclear reactors and deliver a comprehensive package of upgrades, repairs, and modernization to carry the carrier through the second half of its more than 50‑year service life.
Navy officials said the deal is the first carrier RCOH awarded since the stand‑up of the Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) Maritime organization and uses a ceiling‑capped incentive structure intended to balance risk between the government and industry while rewarding schedule performance. “This award is the latest example of how we are leveraging innovative contracting approaches to drive improved outcomes,” said Rear Admiral Casey Moton, Acting PAE Maritime. “Our program management and contracting teams have worked side by side to arrive at a contract that incentivizes schedule performance, addresses key lessons learned, shares risk appropriately so that we can re-deliver Truman to the Fleet on budget and on schedule.”
USS Harry S. Truman will be the eighth Nimitz‑class carrier to undergo RCOH at Newport News, the nation’s sole builder of nuclear‑powered aircraft carriers.
Commissioned in 1998, Truman is slated to complete the mid‑life overhaul in November 2031 and return to service as the most technologically advanced ship in its class, according to the Navy.
RCOH periods typically span several years and involve thousands of tradespeople, engineers, and suppliers to reset combat systems, propulsion plant components, aviation support equipment, and habitability spaces while incorporating new capabilities and life‑extension work.
Newport News has performed all previous Nimitz‑class RCOHs, a sequence that has included USS Nimitz, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Carl Vinson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and John C. Stennis.
