Britain’s biggest defense company BAE Systems has received a $175 million contract from the U.S. Navy to modernize the Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser USS Vicksburg (CG 69).
Commissioned Nov. 12, 1992, the ship was named for both the Battle of Vicksburg fought during the American Civil War, and the city of Vicksburg, Miss.
The Vicksburg will undergo approximately 18 months of work at the company’s shipyard in Norfolk, Va., the ship’s homeport. The modernization period (MODPRD) contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $175.1 million.
BAE Systems initiated the first phase of Vicksburg’s modernization program in May 2017. The company will begin the final phase of work, called MODPRD, later this month. Under the new contract, the shipyard’s employees and industry partners will work on the ship’s weapons and engineering equipment, including its gas turbine propulsion system; restore crew habitability spaces, and support the installation of a new Aegis combat system, communication suite and CANES (Consolidated Afloat Network Enterprise System). The Vicksburg’s MODPRD is scheduled to be complete in July 2021, allowing the ship to rejoin the operational fleet afterward.
BAE Systems’ Norfolk shipyard also is performing similar work on the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64). The Gettysburg’s MODPRD work began in January 2019 and is expected to be complete in fall 2020. The Gettysburg and Vicksburg were commissioned in the early 1990s. BAE Systems’ work is expected to extend the service lives of both ships into the mid-2030s.
“Over the last few years, BAE Systems has worked extensively on modernizing the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet cruisers,” said Dave Thomas, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair. “The Vicksburg and Gettysburg modernizations are big jobs. Our experience with cruisers and the expertise of our ship repair partners will return these vital combatants to the fleet with clear improvements and upgraded capability to carry out their missions.”