The U.S. Navy awards contract to Huntington Ingalls Inc. for an advance planning for the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).

The contract, announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Defense, is worth more than $187 million includes engineering, design, material procurement and fabrication, documentation, resource forecasting, and pre-overhaul inspections. Future modifications could extend the period of performance to 30 months and increase the contract value if additional options are exercised. Planning is scheduled to begin this month.

Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by July 2019.

“The planning stage is critically important to the overall success of an engineering and construction project of this magnitude,” said Chris Miner, vice president, in-service aircraft carrier programs at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division.

“This contract allows us to prepare for each step in the overhaul process from preparing for the ship’s arrival at Newport News to its redelivery back to the Navy.”

Christened in 1993 and delivered to the Navy in 1995, USS John C. Stennis will be the seventh Nimitz-class carrier to undergo an RCOH, representing 35 percent of all maintenance and modernization completed during its 50-year service life.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry.