BAE Systems receives $145M ship repair contract

BAE Systems’ Norfolk Ship Repair will repair, modernize and maintain the guided missile destroyer USS Nitze under a $145 million contract, the Pentagon announced Friday.

Work will be performed in Norfolk and is part of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer’s scheduled depot modernization. The contract includes options that would bring its value up to $161 million if exercised. Work is expected to be completed by October 2024.

Nitze is homeported at Naval Station Norfolk and deployed in July 2022, according to the Navy. It is part of the George H. W. Bush Carrier Strike Group. Nitze arrived at Turkey’s Gölcük Naval Base on Feb. 3 for a scheduled port visit, three days before a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated the country’s southern border with Syria, killing more than 47,000 people. Two days after the quake, the Pentagon said it was positioning the USS George H. W. Bush as well as several of its assets in the Mediterranean Sea should Turkey request relief aid.

Falls Church-based BAE Systems Inc. is a subsidiary of England-based BAE Systems plc. For the second year in a row, Signal Mutual, a provider of longshore worker compensation benefits, recognized BAE Systems’ U.S. ship repair business as a top safety company for 2022, BAE announced earlier this month. BAE Systems employs 3,000 workers in its three shipyards in Virginia, California and Florida and the company was one of five to receive the recognition.