WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – “General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, California, is being awarded an… $156.6 [million] … contract for USS Essex,” the announcement stated on Tuesday.
The maintenance contract is to update and improve the ship's military and technical capabilities, the Defense Department said.
Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by June 2017, it added.
Amphibious assault ships are the largest of the US Navy’s amphibious warships. They operate as a smaller version of an aircraft carrier for rotary wing aircraft. The Wasp class is designed to provide ship-to-shore movement using helicopters in addition to landing craft.
