San Diego’s General Dynamics-NASSCO will get nearly $200 million from the U.S. Defense Department to repair and upgrade the amphibious assault ship USS America, one of the largest and most versatile warships in the Navy.
The 844-foot America is currently forward-deployed in Sasebo, Japan, where it’s been based since 2019. The Navy says America will return to San Diego later this year.
At roughly the same time, a sister assault ship, the USS Tripoli, will leave San Diego to begin operating out of Japan. Such swaps are common in the Navy.
The new repair contract represents a boon for NASSCO, which currently has about 3,500 employees assigned to building and repairing warships for the Navy in Barrio Logan.
But the company also has encountered serious problems in recent years.
In March, the Congressional Research Service said the average cost of building new fleet oiler ships at NASSCO had risen to $860 million each — up about $300 million from just a few years earlier.
The Navy had to secure $397 million to help NASSCO complete the first wave of ships and is now seeking another $250 million in the hopes of reducing big delays in the delivery of ships, the report says.
Among the problems and setbacks at NASSCO, CRS said, were the accidental flooding of a dry dock in 2018, labor shortages, difficulty getting parts, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and failures with robotic steel cutting and welding equipment.
Such delays are a major concern to the Navy, whose fleet is shrinking as tensions rise between the U.S. and China, mostly over the sovereignty of Taiwan and China’s threat to interfere with international sea lanes in the Indo-Pacific.
Amphibious assault ships are known as “mini-carriers” because their size and air wing are smaller than those found on full-fledged aircraft carriers, such as San Diego’s USS Carl Vinson.
The America carries an assortment of aircraft, including fighter jets and helicopters. On deployment, amphibious assault ships typically are accompanied by two large ships that help carry personnel and equipment.
These amphibs are widely used to transport, deliver and — if needed — deploy Marines throughout the world. Recently, the assault ship Makin Island returned to San Diego following routine operations off-shore.
