USS Abraham Lincoln undergoing sea trials following overhaul
NewsMay 12, 2017
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. After a four-year refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) got underway for sea trials on May 9.
The four-day sea trial marks the Abraham Lincoln's first time underway since March 2013. During sea trials, the Abraham Lincoln crew was scheduled to practice multiple training scenarios and qualification evolutions, including engineering maneuvers designed to evaluate the performance of the ship after its extensive midlife refueling and maintenance period. The ship's RCOH involved more than 2.5 million person-hours of work , including including refueling the reactors, upgrading the ship's infrastructure, and modernizing combat systems and air-wing capabilities to increase combat effectiveness.
Rear Admiral Brian Antonio, program executive officer for aircraft carriers, said of the overhaul: "She has undergone significant combat systems modernization and will also be the first CVN capable of accommodating the F-35C Lightning II. This RCOH enabled the ship to meet future missions and continued service-life requirements for many years to come."
