NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING AWARDED CONTRACT TO PERFORM REFUELING AND OVERHAUL OF USS NIMITZ

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., May 1, 1998 – Newport News Shipbuilding (NYSE:NNS) has been awarded a contract by the U. S. Navy to perform refueling and overhaul work on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). The contract, valued at approximately $1.2 billion, was signed by Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding officials on April 30, 1998.

Nimitz, the lead ship of the class, is also the first of its class to undergo this major life-cycle milestone. The ship will arrive in late May 1998 and the work performance period is scheduled to last approximately 33 months.

"This is a very significant contract for Newport News Shipbuilding," said NNS Vice President for Aircraft Carriers Mike Petters. "We are looking forward to the ship returning to her birthplace for her one and only refueling in a 50-year life-span."
In addition to the refueling of both of the ship’s reactors, there will be significant modernization work. This includes a major upgrade of the island house that will involve the shipyard removing the top two levels of the island house and replacing them. This action is driven by the installation of a new antenna mast that runs down along the island and will provide for better radar capabilities. The shipyard is also integrating a new radar tower aboard Nimitz.

Maintenance and repair work will be performed below the ship’s waterline to include the application of a new paint. In addition, the shipyard will be replacing nearly 3,000 valves and overhauling another 600 in various ship systems.

More than 3,200 Newport News Shipbuilding employees will be working aboard Nimitz during peak periods of the overhaul and refueling project. performance,

USS Nimitz was built by Newport News Shipbuilding. The ship’s keel was laid on June 22, 1968, the anniversary of the Battle of Midway. Christened on May 13, 1972 by Mrs. Catherine Nimitz Lay, daughter of the ship’s namesake, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the ship was commissioned in 1975.

Nimitz’s first deployment began on July 7, 1976 when it departed Norfolk, Va., for the Mediterranean Sea. The ship has been a powerful and effective Naval presence and most recently was deployed in the Arabian Gulf region in a response to Iraqi violations of the no-fly zone.

Newport News Shipbuilding is America’s premier shipbuilding company with annual revenues of approximately $1.7 billion and 18,000 employees. The company is the leader in the design and construction of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines for the U. S. Navy. Visit NNS on the Web at www.nns.com.