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The U.S. Navy has awarded Newport News Shipbuilding a contract to refuel and overhaul the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). The Navy announced a rounded value of $5.1 billion; HII puts the base contract at $5,099,973,132, with a possible cumulative value of $5,183,380,744 if options are exercised. Truman arrived at the Virginia shipyard on September 30, 2026, and the Navy’s announced completion schedule is November 2031.

What the contract covers

The award is for a refueling and complex overhaul, or RCOH—not a reactor refueling by itself. The Navy describes RCOH as reactor refueling combined with modernization, upgrades, and repairs intended to recapitalize the ship for the second half of its planned service life. The work is meant to preserve the carrier’s warfighting relevance.

Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), will work across thousands of compartments and tanks and on most ship systems. HII identifies major propulsion-plant and combat-system upgrades among the project’s scope. Its arrival announcement also lists hull and freeboard blasting and painting, propeller repairs, work on sea chests, shafts, and rudders, and defueling and refueling of the power plant.

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How to read the contract value

The Navy’s September 2026 announcement rounds the award to $5.1 billion. HII reports a base contract value of $5,099,973,132 and says exercised options would raise the cumulative value to $5,183,380,744. Those are different figures: the second includes options, and neither should be read as money already spent.

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The Navy calls the award a fixed-ceiling incentive contract. It says the structure is intended to share risk and encourage performance against required delivery dates. The public announcement does not explain the full incentive calculation, so the contract label alone does not establish a guaranteed final payment or how any incentive will be earned.

When Truman is due back

HII reported that Truman arrived at Newport News Shipbuilding on September 30, 2026, to begin the shipyard phase. The company said preparations had included long-lead material orders, inspections, and preliminary work. The Navy’s announced schedule calls for completion in November 2031, after which the ship is expected to return to the fleet. That is a planned completion date, not a guaranteed return-to-service date.

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Why this is a major midlife overhaul

The Navy says Truman is the eighth Nimitz-class carrier to undergo RCOH at Newport News Shipbuilding. It characterizes the work as nearly one-third of the maintenance and modernization the carrier will receive over its service life. The Navy describes that planned service life as more than 50 years, making this overhaul a major investment in the ship’s second half of service.

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Rear Admiral Casey Moton, Acting PAE Maritime, said the contract is intended to incentivize schedule performance and share risk, with the goal of returning Truman to the fleet “on budget and on schedule.” The Navy’s stated objective does not guarantee that outcome.

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What the announcement does—and does not—show

The award announcement establishes the current contract’s scope, value structure, shipyard start, and planned completion. It does not provide a like-for-like comparison of earlier Nimitz-class overhauls’ contract values, final costs, or schedule performance. The fact that Truman is the eighth ship in the class to undergo RCOH at Newport News therefore does not, by itself, show that this overhaul will be cheaper, faster, or more successful than previous ones.

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