According to a press release published by BAE Systems on August 24, 2022, the firm has received a $107.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy to modernize the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71).
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Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Ross (Picture source: BAE Systems)
Under this extended dry-docking selected restricted availability (EDSRA) contract, the company will perform the modernization work at its Norfolk, Virginia shipyard. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $123.8 million.
During the EDSRA, BAE Systems will dry-dock USS Ross to perform maintenance on the underwater hull, repair the ship’s main propulsion system, preserve internal ballast and fuel tanks and external superstructure, and rehabilitate crew berthing and dining compartments.
The modernization project is scheduled to take more than 500 days and be completed in April 2024. Once complete, the ship will be capable of serving in the fleet for another 10 years. The 16-year old ship recently completed a seven-year operational period in Rota, Spain as a forward-deployed U.S. Navy combatant.
The USS Ross was commissioned in June 1997. The ship is named after the first Medal of Honor recipient of World War II, Donald K. Ross. While serving aboard the battleship USS Nevada (BB 36) during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Ross valiantly helped the badly-damaged ship get underway during the attack. USS Ross is part of the Arleigh Burke class of destroyers.
The destroyer has a length of 505 ft (154 m), a beam of 59 ft (18 m), and a draft of 31 ft (9.4 m). She can reach a top speed of 29 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).
On 12 November 2009, the Missile Defense Agency announced that Ross would be upgraded during Fiscal Year 2012 to RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) capability in order to function as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.
In 2016, four destroyers patrolling with the U.S. 6th Fleet based in Naval Station Rota, Spain, including Ross received self-protection upgrades, replacing the aft Phalanx CIWS 20mm Vulcan cannon with the SeaRAM 11-cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher.
The SeaRam uses the same sensor dome as the Phalanx. This was the first time the close-range ship defense system was paired with an Aegis ship. All four ships to receive the upgrade were either Flight I or II, meaning they originally had two Phalanx CIWS systems when launched.
