BAE Systems awarded US Navy contract to upgrade USS Boxer
BAE Systems has received a $200.3 million contract from the US Navy to drydock and perform nearly 18 months of maintenance and modernisation work aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4).
Courtesy BAE Systems / US Navy photo gallery (navy.mil)
The drydocking of USS Boxer will be the first time the company’s San Diego shipyard will use its 950-foot-long Pride of California drydock to service a large-deck warship. The shipyard is currently nearing completion of another major milestone for the drydock: the first simultaneous docking of two guided-missile destroyers on the West Coast.
BAE Systems’ San Diego shipyard will begin working aboard the 843-foot-long USS Boxer in June 2020. Under the awarded contract, BAE Systems will upgrade the ship to support and operate Joint Strike Fighters on-board; perform hull, tank and mechanical work; and make other shipboard improvements.
The shipyard is expected to complete its work aboard the 25-year-old ship in December 2021. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $207.48 million.
Last October, BAE Systems simultaneously docked the USS Stethem (DDG 63) and USS Decatur (DDG 73). The guided-missile destroyers are scheduled to be re-floated together from the Pride of California drydock later this spring. The Pride of California, the largest drydock in California, is capable of lifting more than 55,000 tons.