BAE Systems has received a $175 million contract from the U.S. Navy to modernise the guided-missile cruiser USS Vicksburg (CG 69). BAE Systems initiated the first phase of Vicksburg’s modernization programme in May 2017. Under the new contract, the shipyard’s employees and industry partners will work on the ship’s weapons and engineering equipment, including its gas turbine propulsion system; restore crew habitability spaces, and support the installation of a new Aegis combat system, communication suite and CANES (Consolidated Afloat Network Enterprise System). The Vicksburg’s MODPRD is scheduled to be complete in July 2021, allowing the ship to rejoin the operational fleet afterward.
BAE Systems’ Norfolk shipyard also is performing similar work on the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64). The Gettysburg’s MODPRD work began in January 2019 and is expected to be complete in fall 2020. The Gettysburg and Vicksburg were commissioned in the early 1990s. BAE Systems’ work is expected to extend the service lives of both ships into the mid-2030s.