BAE Systems Secures $197M Contract to Modernize USS Wasp

BAE Systems has secured a $197.4M contract from the U.S. Navy to support its efforts to drydock and maintain the USS Wasp. The contract is the company's second for the amphibious assault ship.

The deal, which would bring the total value of the effort to $237.7M if all options are exercised, calls for the U.K. contractor to perform hull, tank and mechanical work on the 843-foot-long vessel, the company said Tuesday.

The lead ship of a class of amphibious assault ships, the Wasp is the 10th Navy vessel to bear the name since 1775.

The organization will begin working aboard the ship starting February 2021 to sustain its warfighting capability. The last maintenance period for the Wasp was from December 2016 to May 2017, when the company added modifications to support Joint Strike Fighter operations onboard.

Mark Whitney, deputy general at BAE Systems Ship repair and general manager at Norfolk Ship Repair, said the company performed major upgrades on the ship before its deployment to Japan in 2017. 

 “Our team of skilled tradespeople and subcontractors look forward to executing another long sustainment period on Wasp, to ensure the ship retains its sharp warfighting capability,” he said. 

The company sent its largest floating drydock, called the “Titan,” in Norfolk to a Baltimore, Maryland, shipyard for five months of lifecycle maintenance. 

The maintenance work performed on Titan drydock will allow the yard to service the largest Navy ships in the port of Norfolk for two more decades. Titan is capable of lifting up to 52K long tons while the Wasp displaces about 40K long tons.

Headquartered in London and Farnborough in the U.K., BAE Systems was founded in 1999 with more than 85K employees across the globe. The organization focuses on combat systems, aeronautics products, land and armaments, ship repair, avionics and navigation, cyber and intelligence and aircraft manufacture.