BAE Systems has received a $125.5 million contract from the U.S. Navy to drydock and provide maintenance service aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex.
The ship recently completed a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific.
According to a news release, BAE Systems’ San Diego shipyard will begin working aboard the 844-foot-long USS Essex in June. Under the ‘docking selected restricted availability’ contract awarded, BAE Systems will perform hull, tank, and mechanical work; repair internal and exterior decks, and refurbish habitability spaces for the ship’s crew and embarked U.S. Marine Corps troops.
“USS Essex recently returned to San Diego following an extended overseas deployment,” said David M. Thomas, Jr., vice president and general manager of BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair. “I look forward to the BAE Systems-Navy team delivering upon our commitment to restore Essex’s material condition and prepare it for future deployments.”
BAE Systems’ San Diego shipyard is currently completing a 22-month docking selected restricted availability aboard USS Boxer, which is in the same ship class as Essex.
The firm said in a statement:
“BAE Systems is a leading provider of ship repair, maintenance, modernization, conversion, and overhaul services for the Navy, other government agencies, and select commercial customers. The company operates three full-service shipyards in California, Florida, and Virginia, and offers a highly skilled, experienced workforce, seven drydocks and railways, significant pier space and ship support services. The company’s San Diego shipyard has approximately 1,100 employees and works with the Navy and several subcontractor companies to accomplish its ship sustainment work.”
Work on the ship is expected to be completed in September 2023. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $148.2 million.
Ah, with the last of the Harriers!
Looks to me like F-35s in the above photo.
Yep, definitely F35s.
Amazing stealth I never knew the Harriers had-totally invisable!
😂 gimme a break guys. I’m getting old!!
Hey Mate- did you get clobbered by the floods in KZN?
Sure looks bad on the TV.
Howsit Klonkie. The worst ever my friend. We got off lightly just losing a section of driveway wall but up our street was carnage-cars, driveway, garden, pool collapsed and washed away. 400 plus dead and not just in the shanties-also in formal suburbs such as here in Westville
On matters defence we have a variety of SANDF and SAPS choppers assisting- I wondered whether all three arms still operate choppers?
A real tragedy Geoff, it was upsetting to watch on TV. Pleased you and family are all ok !
Can anyone help, is the RN getting similar vessels? I know HMS Ocean came close but it’s gone. These ships make eminent sense and must be vital for any shore landings and logistic support.
There was a plan to get two of these from the USN many years ago now, because the Bulwark and Albion were so bad. The RN wanted it, but the then PM Gordon Brown stopped it. All to do with a certain RAF chief of defence staff! Nothing changes.
Wasp class ships are very expensive to buy and even more expensive to run. I think we’d be better off with somthing much smaller: Mistral sized, perhaps a little faster. The best we can hope for is that maybe a couple of the multi-role support ships we should be getting next decade to replace the Bays, Argus, etc, might be through deck.
There’s a suggestion that we should get somthing like the BMT Ellida design, which has a well deck but is more LSD than LHD.
We can’t rely on QE Class to do the lion’s share. The capability to carry fixed and rotary is an ideal concept. The Bay idea is what it is, a cheap solution…..but?
Since MRSS is supposed to be multi-role it’s most likely to be an LSD but with half decent aviation facilities i.e. something like ELLIDA, which although only having a hanger for one Merlin has covered storage for another three i.e. four in total, and a big flight deck.
Six of them (as proposed for MRSS) could carry 24 helicopters which is probably more than we could muster. Also IIRC it was stated somewhere that the RN/RM thinking now was having smaller, cheaper, landing ships in larger numbers. So I doubt we will be seeing any LHDs.
We won’t be getting them for a few years, and I think the design will depend on the state of the drone programme nearer the time. I also can’t see any reason why all the MRS ships need to be the same.
I’m just keeping fingers crossed that “up to 6” means 6.
Thanks.😀
Ocean is still in Rio, as is the old Foch. Brazil is spending zillions trying to recommission the Foch and their Navy is starting to think its a waste of money [Verbatin from a Captain who took me around their docks in March]. They might let the Ocean come back home, if the deal was enough to see the Foch back at sea.
Is this the class where one burnt out recently?
Yes. USS Bonhomme Richard was also a Wasp class.
The court martial of the sailor charged with the arson is set for September.