FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., May 30, 2000 – Newport News Shipbuilding (NYSE: NNS) announced today that it has been awarded a contract by the U. S. Navy to plan for the second Planned Incremental Availability of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). This will occur in the ship’s homeport of San Diego, Calif. The award is valued at approximately $1.2 million.

Newport News Shipbuilding will lead a team of local ship repair contractors for the planning and eventual execution of all the non-propulsion work for the Stennis availability, and is working closely with the overall program manager for the project, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash.

"This is the second contract awarded to Newport News for work on Stennis in its homeport and is indicative of the company's success in continuing our efforts to support the Navy's carrier fleet around the world," said Mike Petters, Newport News Shipbuilding vice president and general manager for Aircraft Carriers.

Non-propulsion planning work will include ship alterations, modernization and repairs to include the communication systems, weapons and aircraft elevators, flight systems, air conditioning systems and crew habitability areas.

The planning will begin immediately with an expected date of October 2000 as the start for the actual work. The Newport News Shipbuilding non-propulsion team is made up a NNS management team and four local San Diego contractors: Continental Maritime, South West Marine, NASSCO and Pacific Shipbuilding and Repair. Continental Maritime was acquired by Newport News Shipbuilding in 1997.

"We look forward to working with our team of local contractors, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Navy’s local Supervisor of Shipbuilding." said Ben Robison, director, Carrier Active Fleet Programs for Newport News Shipbuilding.

The USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) was built by Newport News Shipbuilding and named after the former U.S. senator from Mississippi. The ship was christened at Newport News on November 3, 1993 by Margaret Stennis Womble, daughter of Senator John C. Stennis. The ship was commissioned by the U. S. Navy in Norfolk, Va., on December 9, 1995. Stennis is the first of three nuclear-powered aircraft carriers scheduled to be homeported in San Diego. The other ships are USS Nimitz (CVN 68), currently undergoing a refueling/overhaul at NNS, and Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), now under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding.

Newport News Shipbuilding designs and constructs nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy and provides life-cycle services for ships in the Navy fleet. The company employs nearly 17,000 people and has annual revenues of approximately $1.9 billion. Visit NNS on the Web at www.nns.com.