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A U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier’s midlife refueling overhaul, called a Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), is a multi-year shipyard project—not a routine refueling stop. The reactors are refueled while the ship undergoes major repairs and modernization to propulsion, electronic, combat-support, and other systems. The ship’s crew, the shipyard, and contractors carry out the work, then test the carrier before it returns to the fleet.

What happens during an RCOH?

An RCOH combines reactor refueling with broad repair and upgrade work intended to prepare a carrier for the latter part of its planned service life. Propulsion is central, but the overhaul also reaches systems and spaces beyond the nuclear plant. The Navy has described upgrades to propulsion equipment, infrastructure, and electronic systems, alongside work on combat and support capabilities.

Public Navy accounts describe the purpose and broad phases, but do not provide detailed procedures for defueling, fuel handling, radiological controls, or nuclear-plant work. The technical details of those operations should not be inferred from the public milestone descriptions.

How the overhaul is prepared and carried out

1. Plan the work and prepare the ship

Planning, inspections, material procurement, and shipyard preparation begin well before the most visible overhaul work. In its May 2021 account of USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), the Navy described a preparatory period called “Smart Start.” That ship’s preparations included setting up temporary services and systems, removing decking and catapult equipment, applying paint, sampling paint, lagging, and tile, and preparing for refueling. These are documented Stennis activities, not a checklist established for every carrier.

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The Navy also described the Shipboard Consolidated Offload and Outfitting Plan, or SCOOP. For Stennis, it involved removing equipment, tools, devices, and other items not built into the ship so they could be stored during the overhaul. This clears material that would otherwise be in the way of shipyard work.

2. Move into the shipyard and dry dock

The carrier transits to the shipyard and enters dry dock for intrusive work that cannot be done while it operates as a fleet ship. The RCOH package includes reactor refueling and propulsion-plant work, plus repair and modernization across the ship. The Navy describes the effort as a joint undertaking involving the crew, Newport News Shipbuilding, and other contractors.

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3. Repair, upgrade, and outfit the ship

Heavy maintenance addresses propulsion-plant repairs and upgrades as well as systems elsewhere on the carrier. Dry docking is not the end of the shipyard phase. In a July 10, 2024 update, the Navy said Stennis had undocked in April and would move to an outfitting berth for further installation and testing of major components and combat-support systems.

Industrial capacity is part of this long-running work. On June 26, 2026, the Navy reported the opening of a Carrier Refueling Overhaul Workcenter near the RCOH dry dock, describing it as approximately 80,000 square feet. That figure describes the dedicated facility, not the area of the ship or the amount of work completed.

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4. Test the plant, systems, and ship

Testing demonstrates that the overhauled ship and its systems can operate before the carrier returns to the fleet. The Navy’s Stennis account lists propulsion-plant work, shore steaming, cold and hot operations, power-range tests, a total-ship test program, fast cruise, and sea trials. It presents these as milestones for that ship, not a fixed sequence or universal checklist for every RCOH.

Fast cruise is included among Stennis’s reported milestones; the public account does not establish detailed criteria that apply to every carrier. Sea trials provide an at-sea opportunity to exercise ship systems. In its May 26, 2023 report on USS George Washington (CVN 73), Naval Sea Systems Command said the trials tested the full range of operating systems and included high-speed maneuvering evolutions to stress new technology and equipment.

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What the named carrier examples show

Carrier Publicly reported RCOH milestone Return or completion timing
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) On September 30, 2026, the Navy announced a $5.1 billion fixed-ceiling incentive contract with Newport News Shipbuilding for Truman’s RCOH. The announcement said the carrier had been delivered in 1998. November 2031 was the Navy’s scheduled completion date in that announcement; it is a forecast, not a confirmed delivery.
USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) Transited to Newport News in May 2021. A July 10, 2024 Navy update said it had undocked in April, was more than 65 percent complete, and was moving to an outfitting berth for more installation and testing. October 2026 was the redelivery target reported in July 2024. That dated target does not by itself establish whether or when redelivery occurred.
USS George Washington (CVN 73) The Navy reported completion in May 2023. Its account describes sea trials that tested operating systems and included high-speed maneuvering. Completion was reported in May 2023; the cited account does not state a separate target date for comparison.

The Stennis and Truman dates are schedule information as reported at those times, not proof that either ship met its target. RCOH duration and milestones should be read in the context of the named ship and the date of the Navy’s update.

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How much work does the ship’s crew contribute?

The overhaul is not solely shipyard labor. A May 29, 2020 Navy report on George Washington said the ship’s force had completed more than 1.3 million work-hours out of 2,306,996 planned work-hours for that carrier’s work package. Those figures apply to George Washington’s specific RCOH and are not a standard labor estimate for other carriers.

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