BAE Systems to Equip US Navy Cruiser with Aegis combat system

BAE Systems (BAE-S) has received a $175 million contract from the US Navy to modernize the guided-missile cruiser USS Vicksburg.

Under the new contract, BAE-S will work on its gas turbine propulsion system; restore crew habitability spaces, install 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 initiated the first phase of Vicksburg’s modernization program in May 2017. The company will begin the final phase of work, called MODPRD, later this month.

The Vicksburg will undergo approximately 18 months of work at the company’s shipyard in Norfolk, Va., the ship’s homeport. The modernization period (MODPRD) contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $175.1 million.

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.