USS Enterprise Headed into Drydock
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Contracts - Awards, Northrop-Grumman, Support & Maintenance, Support Functions - Other, Surface Ships - Combat
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding – Newport News in Newport News, VA received a $453.3 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the FY 2008 Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (EDSRA) of USS Enterprise [CVN 65], the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Work on the 80,640t ship will be performed in Newport News, VA and is expected to be complete by August 2009. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, and this contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington Navy Yard, DC (N00024-08-C-2100). See also Earl Industries’ December 2005 contract.
An EDSRA is less extensive than a refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) that refuels the ship’s nuclear reactors. Even so, this procedure still put “The Big E” into drydock for about 16 months to receive restoration and upgrades of all subsystems that affect combat capability and safety, hull inspections and recoating, radiological surveys, and other maintenance related evolutions below the waterline. The EDSRA will also address the propulsion system, and provides sufficient time to perform more extensive propulsion plant repairs and testing than a more conventional Extended Selected Restricted Availability (ESRA), which Enterprise experienced in 2002. See also NGC release.

