BAE to Modernize Up to 11 Norfolk-based Destroyers

DDG-51 modernization(click to view full) BAE Systems recently announced that they will modernize 11 DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class guided missile destroyers that are home ported in Norfolk, VA, under a potential $365 million contract with the U.S. Navy. The contract includes an initial one-year award, plus 4 option years. When asked, a BAE Systems Ship Repair spokesman explained that: “[The] Multi-Ship, Multi-Option (MSMO) contract for eleven of the Norfolk based DDG-51 class ships… will include a Hull, Mechanical and Electrical (HM&E) availability as well as the Combat Systems upgrades listed in the [graphic accompanying this article].” [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JMEC5K7Py0] USS Arleigh Burkeclick to play DoD clip BAE Systems will start executing the contract in August 2010 with planning, modernization, maintenance, and repair work on the USS Arleigh Burke [DDG-51]. The firm is already “well into the DDG modernization process” on the USS John Paul Jones [DDG 53] in San Diego, under a separate contract, and says it plans to leverage that experience under the current contract.