CVN-72 Carrier RCOH: Shall not Perish

Somewhere, over
the rainbow…
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Nuclear reactors save a lot of diesel fuel on huge ships like aircraft carriers, but there’s a catch. Mid-way through the ship’s 50-year life, the nuclear reactor needs to be refueled. The resulting “Refueling and Complex OverHaul” (RCOH) is a long, complex, potentially hazardous, and very expensive process, which also includes widespread upgrades throughout the ship. Anyone who has ever done home renovations knows that the opportunity to make upgrades can be nearly irresistible in these situations. In truth, this stage in the carrier’s life is an excellent time for that kind of work.

The USS Abraham Lincoln [CVN 72] was built by Northrop Grumman’s Newport News sector. Commissioned on Nov 11/1989 and homeported in Everett, WA, CVN 72 is expected to remain in service until 2039. As it approaches its mid-life stage, however, its mid-life upgrade and reactor refueling likewise approaches. Its counterpart USS Carl Vinson [CVN 70] completed its RCOH at the end of 2009, and USS Theodore Roosevelt’s [CVN 71] is underway. CVN 72 will become the 6th American carrier to undergo this procedure.

The RCOH Process

USS Nimitz in RCOH drydock

After nearly 25 years of service, the USA’s nuclear aircraft carriers undergo a 3-year maintenance period to refuel their nuclear reactors, upgrade and modernize combat and communication systems, and overhaul the ship’s hull, mechanical and electrical systems. This is the refueling and complex overhaul.

During an American Nimitz class carrier’s 50 year life span, it has 4 Drydocking Planned Incremental Availabilities and 12 Planned incremental availabilities. It has only one RCOH, however, which is the most significant overhaul the boat receives. HII says that the 3-year RCOH represents 35% of all maintenance and modernization in a Nimitz Class aircraft carrier’s 50-year service life.

The new “CVN-21” Gerald R. Ford class will have a redesigned nuclear power plant that makes use of design advances in order to increase the reactors’ output, and drop the number of people required to operate them. Modern reactors aboard US submarines will never need refueling, but their platforms only have a 30-year safe design life. The CVN-78 Ford Class will last much longer, and so their high-output reactor will still face mid-life RCOH procedures.

For the Nimitz Class, costs are generally above $3 billion per RCOH – a sum that could build a smaller carrier like the non-nuclear, 50,000 ton America Class from scratch.

From HII’s spinout presentation
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Beyond the Lincoln’s ECOH, the future becomes less certain. The USA has laws forcing the Navy to maintain a certain number of carriers, but the reality is that the number of naval fighter squadrons is dropping, and the cost of new planes is rising. As entitlement budgets and a colossal debt load start to bite, hard decisions could lie ahead for the some members of the American carrier fleet.

For now, however, RCOHs to keep existing carriers in service are being planned and executed fairly smoothly. As one might expect, Northrop Grumman and the US Navy will attempt to apply lessons from the previous 5 RCOH efforts to the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Contracts & Key Events

Unless otherwise specified, all contracts are issued to Northrop Grumman’s Newport News (now Huntington Ingalls Industries) shipyard in Newport News, VA by US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC.

HII arrival
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March 29/13: RCOH. HII in Newport News, VA receives a $2.595 billion cost-plus-incentive fee contract for USS Abraham Lincoln’s RCOH, now that the Consolidated and Further Continuation Appropriation Act for Fiscal Year 2013 [H.R. 933] has been enacted into law. This contract was not competitively procured under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), and the award begins with $10 million in FY 2012 Shipbuilding and Conversion funding.

Lincoln’s RCOH will include the standard refueling of the ship’s reactors, as well as extensive modernization work to more than 2,300 compartments, 600 tanks, and hundreds of systems. Major upgrades will be made to the flight deck, catapults, combat systems and the island. Work is expected to begin immediately and continue through November 2016 (N00024-13-C-2108). See also HII.

Main RCOH contract

March 28/13: HII welcomes the USS Abraham Lincoln to its Newport News Shipbuilding division, after a 6-week delay. HII.

Feb 27/13: A $40 million contract modification for “additional advance planning efforts” related to CVN 72’s RCOH. To be more specific, it involves additional advanced planning, ship checks, design, documentation, engineering, procurement, fabrication and preliminary shipyard or support facility work.

“All shipboard work will take place at Naval Station Norfolk [VA] because of delay in awarding the RCOH due to the continuing resolution. This effort will mitigate schedule impacts and help preserve the skilled work force.”

In other words, it keeps them busy, preventing layoffs that could lead to the permanent loss of skilled workers who go elsewhere (N00024-10-C-2110).

Feb 8/13: Pier-sided. The US Navy announces that it is not issuing the RCOH contract to Huntington Ingalls Industries because of fiscal constraints resulting from the use of a continuing resolution (CR), instead of a proper appropriations bill. This delay of unspecified length will also affect USS George Washington’s RCOH. The Navy’s press release can be summarized as a memo to Congress saying: “not funding us as we asked is bad.”

There is a bit of gamesmanship involved as the continuing resolution was a known quantity months ago. Navy | Defense News | Statement by HASC Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Chairman Randy Forbes.

ESSM from MK29
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Dec 3/12: Weapons. Raytheon Technical Services LLC in Norfolk, VA receives a $7.2 million firm-fixed-price basic ordering agreement for engineering services, overhaul, repair and upgrade in support of the MK57 Mod 13, NATO Seasparrow surface missile system units on CVN 72, including associated test, ancillary and support equipment.

MK57 has two meanings in the USN. In this case, it means the NATO designation for the entire Seasparrow Fire Control System: the 8-box MK29 Launcher, the MK9 radar Tracker/Iluminator (TIS), and the MK73 Solid State Transmitter. The ship had used AIM-7P Sea Sparrow air defense missiles from its 2 mounted MK57 MOD 3s, but the completely redesigned RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile can be fired from the MK57 MOD 12+ systems after upgrades and replacements. ESSM is far more effective, and is the standard for Nimitz Class carriers going forward.

Work will be performed in Norfolk, VA (90%), and Chula Vista, CA (10%), and is expected to be complete by September 2014. All contract funds are committed at the time of award, which was not competitively procured since Raytheon is the only source for this equipment. The Port Hueneme Division of the US Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, CA manages the contract (N00024-09-G-5422).

Aug 24/12: A $22.6 million contract modification for additional CVN 72 RCOH advance planning, ship checks, design, documentation, engineering, procurement, fabrication and preliminary shipyard or support facility work. This brings announced RCOH planning totals to $702 million.

Work will be performed in Newport News, VA, and is contracted to complete by February 2013. This contract was not competitively procured (N00024-10-C-2110).

Feb 24/12: Huntington Ingalls, Inc. in Newport News, VA receives a $391.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee FY 2012 contract option, with performance incentives, to continue advance planning efforts for USS Abraham Lincoln’s RCOH.

HII’s release reminds us that if all contract options are exercised, its full value could reach $678 million – but when added to announced awards under this contract in 2010 and 2011, the total is now at $679.4 million. Since some monies are typically left over every year, it’s reasonable to assume that spending the full 2012 allotment will push the total near the previously-announced $678 million limit. That should cover the RCOH’s planning phase. The next set of contracts will begin covering the RCOH’s execution, which is slated to begin in 2013.

Work will be performed in Newport News, VA, and is expected to be complete by February 2013. Monies will provide advanced planning, ship checks, design, documentation, engineering, procurement, fabrication and preliminary shipyard or support facility work. US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages these contracts (N00024-10-C-2110).

Feb 16/12: Afghan ops. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group launches its 1st combat sorties this deployment, in support of operations in Afghanistan. The group deployed on Pearl Harbor Day – Dec 7/11. After this deployment, Lincoln will change homeports from Everett, WA, to Norfolk, VA, in order to undergo its RCOH. US Navy.

2008: Lincoln & friends
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March 31/11: CEC. An $8.1 million contract modification for AN/USG-2B systems delivery and test aboard USS Abraham Lincoln and the first-of-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. The USG-2B is a key component of the Navy’s Cooperative Engagement Capability, which allows equipped ships to share a common picture of threats around them, even if those threats are out of their own sensor range.

Work will be performed in Largo, FL (47%); St. Petersburg, FL (20%); Dallas, TX (18%); and McKinney, TX (15%), and is expected to be completed by May 2013 (N00024-08-C-5203).

Feb 28/11: Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. in Newport News, VA receives a $206.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee option to continue advance planning efforts for the USS Abraham Lincoln’s RCOH. This effort will continue to provide for shipchecks, design, documentation, engineering, procurement, fabrication and preliminary shipyard or support facility work.

Work will be performed in Newport News, VA, and will run until February 2012. This is the only supercarrier shipyard in the USA, and this contract was not competitively procured (N00024-10-C-2110). Tim Colton of Maritime Memos has an interesting take on this:

“When you look at NNS’ base workload – build a new CVN every four or five years, do the RCOH on one of the existing CVNs every four or five years, and now, also, deactivate one of the existing CVNs every four or five years – you get the feeling that they can pretty much go on forever, very profitably, with or without any other work. I know that that is a very simplistic view, but it serves to emphasize the importance to the success of HII(Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.) of fixing the problems in the Gulf Coast yards.”

Feb 25/11: A Newport Daily Press article pegs the next-generation carrier and the USS Abraham Lincoln’s RCOH as key projects at risk, thanks to the 11th Congress’ failure to pass a FY 2011 budget. Both are “long fuse, big bang” projects, where the ability to order materials and ramp up staffing in a timely manner are critical.

March 9/10: 2009 PIA. USS Abraham Lincoln is still undergoing testing from her 2009 PIA maintenance, and successfully completes a PACFIRE test firing of her 20mm Phalanx Close In Weapons System (CIWS), while exercising the boat’s combat systems. Upgrades to the close-in self-defense weapon system included transition from block 1 baseline 0, to block 1 baseline 2. The main improvement uses compressed high pressure air instead of hydraulics to release the rounds faster, allowing the gun to fire 4,500 rounds per minute instead of 3,000.

Abraham Lincoln was pier side at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for 9 months in 2009, undergoing a complete overhaul during a Planned Incremental Availability. She is preparing for an upcoming deployment, even as Northrop Grumman’s engineers and Navy personnel make preparations to ensure a smooth start to her RCOH once CVN 71 is done in 2013. US Navy.

Additional Reading and Sources

• US Navy – USS Abraham Lincoln Official Web Site

• DID – USS Theodore Roosevelt Headed Into Mid-Life Overhaul. And still in it, until 2013.

• DID – CVN 70 Carl Vinson’s Mid-Life RCOH Refueling & Maintenance. Completed.

• James Hasik (Sept 8/11) – A Lesser Future for Supercarriers? Why cutting the fleet might be quite reasonable