WASHINGTON — The Navy has awarded General Dynamics a $1.7 billion contract to construct two more John Lewis-class fleet replenishment oilers, T-AO 215 and T-AO 216, the second and third ships of an eight-vessel multi-ship contract.
“The timely funding for these two ships will act to stabilize the workforce by sustaining an important backlog and prevent future layoffs,” said Dave Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO, the company’s San Diego-based shipyard responsible for a number of Navy auxiliary vessels.
The John Lewis class was first awarded to NASSCO in 2016, a next-generation auxiliary vessel primarily used to transfer fuel to Navy warships at sea. The fleet oilers are 742 feet in length with a displacement of nearly 50,000 tons when fully loaded and can carry 162,000 barrels of oil and dry cargo.
The Navy awarded GD contracts for nine ships between 2016 and 2022 and then, in September 2024, announced an additional multi-ship contract with a potential value of $6.7 billion, if all options are executed, for eight more.
The first four ships in the class have been delivered to the Navy, while an additional five under construction, according to GD. A total of 20 ships are planned for the service’s program of record.
GD’s announcement Monday would usually be paired with a Pentagon notice among its daily statements about contracts awarded by the services valued at more than $7 million, but those announcements have not been published since the start of the government shutdown in early October.
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