According to information published by the US MoD on March 20, 2023, the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt departed Bremerton, Washington after completing an 18-month docking planned incremental availability (DPIA) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility. The ship is shifting its homeport back to San Diego, California, and will return to Naval Air Station North Island.
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The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt transits the Puget Sound. (Picture source: US DoD)
The DPIA achieved significant modernization to the ship’s combat efficiency while also ensuring sustained operational readiness throughout its 50-year lifespan.
Upgrades included a flight deck systems retrofit, expanding the ship’s air dominance capabilities to support the F-35C Lightning II, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, and CMV-22B Osprey, as well as future platforms such as the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aircraft system.
Other combat systems modernization efforts included installation of the Mark 38 Mod III Machine Gun System and upgrades to the AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare suite; Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES); ship self-defense system (SSDS); surface search radar; and AN/SPQ-9 Fire Control System.
The availability also involved a full restoration of crew habitability areas, including crew living quarters and onboard bathrooms; and preventative maintenance and restoration of the ship’s hull, rudders and rudder shafts.
The aircraft carrier was ordered on September 30, 1980, and constructed by Newport News Shipbuilding at a cost of $4.5 billion in 2007 dollars. The keel was laid down on October 31, 1981, and the ship was launched on October 27, 1984. The USS Theodore Roosevelt was commissioned on October 25, 1986,
