9,200-ton US warship heads for major overhaul as Navy upgrades its destroyer fleet

The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics NASSCO a $149.6 million contract to overhaul the USS Pinckney, launching another major maintenance period for the destroyer that helped shape the service’s broader modernization plan for Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class ships. The Navy awarded the contract last week, and it covers a scheduled Chief of Naval Operations Availability at NASSCO’s San Diego shipyard. The depot-level period will involve repairs, testing, equipment work and modernization activities, with the effort expected to continue through September 2028. Navy commits $149.6 million overhaul The fixed-price incentive fee contract includes the labor, equipment, facilities, testing and quality assurance required for the work. Contract options could increase its total value to $149.9 million. The Navy is providing 91 percent of the initial funding through fiscal 2026 other procurement funds, amounting to $135.8 million. Additional money comes from operations and maintenance accounts and weapons procurement funds. About $12.9 million could expire at the end of the fiscal year if it is not obligated. The contract was awarded without competition under federal provisions allowing sole-source procurement when a single contractor can meet the government’s requirements. Naval Sea Systems Command is overseeing the award. Pinckney has a key modernization role USS Pinckney (DDG 91) is a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and commissioned in 2004. The San Diego-based warship serves with Destroyer Squadron 23. The ship is named for William Pinckney, a Navy Cross recipient who rescued a fellow sailor aboard USS Enterprise during the Battle of Santa Cruz in World War II. Pinckney previously served as the pathfinder for the Navy’s DDG Modernization 2.0 effort. The program targets about 20 Flight IIA destroyers and carries an estimated fleet-wide cost of $17 billion. Earlier upgrade ended in 2023 Pinckney was the first ship selected for the program’s initial modernization phase. That work included Northrop Grumman’s AN/SLQ-32(V)7 SEWIP Block 3 electronic warfare system, designed to improve the destroyer’s ability to detect and counter anti-ship missile threats. NASSCO carried out that modernization during a roughly two-year period that concluded in November 2023. The Navy’s modernization approach uses a second phase after the SEWIP upgrade. That later work adds Raytheon’s SPY-6(V)4 radar along with updated combat systems software. Two other Flight IIA destroyers, USS Chung-Hoon and USS James E. Williams, have already completed their modernization periods ahead of schedule. USS Halsey remains under modernization. Radar work remains unclear The Navy designed DDG Modernization 2.0 to address problems encountered during the earlier Ticonderoga-class cruiser modernization effort. That program spent nearly $4 billion upgrading seven cruisers but failed to extend their service lives as originally intended. The service has not yet disclosed whether Pinckney’s new $149.6 million depot period will include the second-phase SPY-6 radar installation. It is also unclear whether the work will concentrate on maintenance and repairs outside the broader modernization sequence. The overhaul is expected to keep the destroyer at NASSCO’s San Diego facility until September 2028. Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.A versatile writer, Sujita has worked with Mashable Middle East and News Daily 24. When she isn't writing, you can find her glued to the latest web series and movies.