USS Harry S. Truman Begins $5.1B Mid-Life Refueling and Overhaul
The nuclear aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) has shifted from Naval Station Norfolk to HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding to officially begin its multi-year Refueling and Complex Overhaul. It comes after the Navy confirmed the awarding of a contract valued at $5.1 billion for what becomes the eighth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier to undergo the long-term renovation.
The carrier, which was commissioned in 1998, has been at its homeport in Norfolk since returning from the Middle East in June 2025, after leading the response to the Houthis in Yemen. It completed a 251-day deployment, during which the Navy reported the strike group completed more than 13,000 sorties and 25,000 flight hours. It included the strike group delivering 124,000 pounds of ordnance on a single day, which was reported to be the single largest strike from a carrier. However, it also included a collision with a merchant ship near the Suez Canal and the loss of two F/A-18 Super Hornets overboard and a third shot down in a friendly-fire incident.
The Navy had considered in 2019 possibly mothballing the carrier instead of proceeding with the life extension. It now emphasizes that it is using an innovative Fixed Ceiling Incentive structure for the refueling and complex overhaul, which appropriately shares risk and incentivizes improved shipbuilder performance to achieve required delivery dates.
HII reports Newport News has been awarded a $5,099,973,132 contract for the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH). The contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $5,183,380,744. It comes as Newport News is completing a similar project for USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), which has been at the yard since 2021. Reports indicate it is a year behind schedule but is expected to return to the Navy in October.
Work is already visible from the "Smart Start" that began in November 2025 to prepare for the RCOH (USN)
Truman began its formal RCOH “Smart Start” period in November 2025, preparing the ship and crew for the multi-year maintenance and modernization effort. Pictures released by the Navy show tugboats assisting the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier departing Naval Station Norfolk for the relocation to Newport News Shipbuilding. Work was already visible on the vessel.
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Truman’s RCOH will include refueling the ship’s reactors, as well as extensive modernization work in thousands of compartments and tanks, as well as on most ship systems. In addition, major upgrades will be made in the propulsion plant and combat systems. The RCOH represents nearly a third of all maintenance and modernization in an aircraft carrier's service life.
The project is starting as HII reported that the U.S. Navy on Tuesday, September 29, took “preliminary acceptance” of the nation’s next aircraft carrier, the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). The new carrier moved to the Naval Base to complete its outfitting ahead of formal delivery, which is expected in March 2027.
