USS Harry S. Truman Set for Massive $5.1 Billion Service Midpoint Overhaul
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The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is slated for a $5.1 billion overhaul intended to prepare the hulking warship for the second half of its service life. The massive project will combine reactor refueling with extensive maintenance and modernization throughout the vessel.
The Pentagon announced Tuesday that HII received the fixed ceiling incentive contract. The work will be conducted at Virginia’s Newport News Shipbuilding, where Truman will undergo its refueling and complex overhaul, commonly identified as RCOH.
The RCOH represents approximately one third of all maintenance and modernization that an aircraft carrier will receive during its service life, according to the announcement. That sweeping scope will involve thousands of spaces aboard the ship and most of its systems.
HII described the work as an extensive project reaching deep into the carrier. “The RCOH process on Truman 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,” the company stated.
The company also outlined major improvements beyond the reactor work. “In addition, major upgrades will be made in the propulsion plant and combat systems.”
The overhaul notice arrived a little more than a year after Truman completed a 251 day deployment marked by both historic combat operations and a troubling series of incidents. During that deployment, the carrier fired more than 1.1 million pounds of ordnance.
Truman also launched what the source described as the largest carrier launched airstrike in history. Despite that combat milestone, multiple incidents during the deployment prompted an array of investigations.
Image Credit: DoW
200131-N-GC347-0680 ARABIAN SEA (Jan. 31, 2020) The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transits the Arabian Sea Jan. 31, 2020. The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Scott Swofford)
In February 2025, Truman collided with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M near Port Said, Egypt. The collision was followed by the relief of the carrier’s commanding officer, Capt. Dave Snowden.
Snowden was relieved because of a loss of confidence in his ability to command. The deployment’s difficulties were not limited to the collision or the subsequent command change.
Truman also lost three F/A-18 Super Hornets during the deployment. Each aircraft was lost under different circumstances, adding a bruising operational chapter to an otherwise historic deployment.
One Super Hornet was shot down by the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg during a friendly fire incident. Another aircraft experienced a failed arrested landing and went overboard.
A third Super Hornet slipped from the hangar deck and fell into the Red Sea. That loss occurred as Truman conducted evasive maneuvers in response to an incoming ballistic missile.
The carrier is homeported at Naval Station Norfolk. Truman will become the eighth Nimitz class aircraft carrier to complete its service midpoint RCOH at Newport News.
Image Credit: DoW
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman travels in the Atlantic Ocean, Dec. 12, 2018.
Newport News Shipbuilding Vice President of Program Management Bryan Caccavale said the shipyard has already been working on the engineering and construction effort. His statement emphasized preparations for Truman’s arrival and coordination with the Navy and suppliers.
“Our team has been diligently working to get ahead on this critical engineering and construction project that will prepare USS Harry S. Truman for the second half of her service life,” Caccavale said in a release. “When the ship arrives at NNS, we’ll apply that same diligence to working with our suppliers and Navy partners to ensure a successful recapitalization of CVN 75.”
The announcement did not specify when work aboard Truman will begin. It did state that the overhaul is expected to be completed by November 2031, setting a lengthy timeline for the carrier’s reactor refueling and sweeping modernization.
The contract currently carries a value of $5.1 billion under the fixed ceiling incentive structure announced by the Pentagon. Additional options are included in the agreement and could push the total value closer to $5.2 billion if exercised.
The project will prepare Truman for the remaining half of its service life through work involving its reactors, propulsion plant, combat systems, compartments, tanks and most ship systems. After a deployment packed with record setting combat operations and costly mishaps, the carrier now faces one of the largest planned maintenance periods of its service.
