NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Sept. 01, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that its Newport News Shipbuilding division has received a $2.8 billion contract to execute the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73).

“We’ve spent the better part of three years planning and preparing for this availability,” said Chris Miner, Newport News’ vice president, in-service aircraft carrier programs. “We are leveraging lessons learned from the USS Abraham Lincoln RCOH, implementing digital tools to increase efficiency, and working with our Navy partners, our suppliers and numerous contractors to recapitalize this ship and deliver her back to the Navy for another 25 years of service.”

A video and photo accompanying this release are available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/releases/uss-george-washington-cvn73-rcoh-contract.

The RCOH represents 35 percent of all maintenance and modernization in an aircraft carrier’s 50-year service life. USS George Washington’s RCOH will include the refueling of the ship’s reactors, as well as extensive modernization work to more than 2,300 compartments, 600 tanks and hundreds of systems. In addition, major upgrades will be made to the flight deck, catapults, combat systems and the island. Work will begin immediately and continue through August 2021. After the RCOH, USS George Washington will be one of the most modern and technologically advanced Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in the fleet and will continue to be a vital part of the nation’s defense.

The aircraft carrier arrived at Newport News on Aug. 4 under a planning contract. USS George Washington is the sixth Nimitz-class carrier to undergo this major life-cycle milestone. More than 4,000 employees will support the execution effort.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII’s Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Integrated Missions Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs nearly 37,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:

• HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com
• HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries
• HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries

Statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these statements. Factors that may cause such differences include: changes in government and customer priorities and requirements (including government budgetary constraints, shifts in defense spending, and changes in customer short-range and long-range plans); our ability to estimate our future contract costs and perform our contracts effectively; changes in procurement processes and government regulations and our ability to comply with such requirements; our ability to deliver our products and services at an affordable life cycle cost and compete within our markets; natural and environmental disasters and political instability; adverse economic conditions in the United States and globally; changes in key estimates and assumptions regarding our pension and retiree health care costs; security threats, including cyber security threats, and related disruptions; and other risk factors discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be other risks and uncertainties that we are unable to predict at this time or that we currently do not expect to have a material adverse effect on our business, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements that we may make.

Contact: 

Christie Miller
Christine.Miller@HII-co.com
(757) 380-3581