Modern aircraft carriers are in high demandfor national defense missions around the world. Theyallow our nation to position forces for combat operationswithout the permission or approval of other nations.

Importance of On-Time Maintenance Delaying any RCOH negatively impacts fleet readiness and creates inefficiencies in the program, including increased costs and prolonged learning curves. Delays also threaten an already fragile supplier base. Conducting RCOHs on schedule are necessary to return modernized carriers to active service for another 25 years of operational demands.

Halfway through a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier’s 50-year service, it undergoes mid-life Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), which includes refueling of nuclear reactors, overhauling most machinery, and modernizing warfare systems.RCOH ensures carriers incorporate improved capabilities needed for success in their remaining 25 years of service.

Continued and steady RCOH multi-year funding provides the aircraft-carrier workforce and industrial base stability that generates efficiencies contributing to strong, on-budget program performance.OPTIMIZING CARRIER PERFORMANCE

Refueling And Complex Overhaul

Modern aircraft carriers are in high demand for national defense missions around the world. They allow our nation to position forces for combat operations without the permission or approval of other nations.

Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) increases the value and recapitalizes the carrier for another 25 years of service, continuing the most modern and technologically advanced Nimitz-class carriers in the U.S. fleet, a vital part of our national defense.

Current law prohibits the retirement of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers before the ship’s first RCOH.

1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034

USS Nimitz (CVN 68)

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)

USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)

USS George Washington (CVN 73)

USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)

Time Spent in RCOH

aircraft carrier RCOH timeline

HAVE A

AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

50year service life.

RCOH means availability for another

25

36

yearsto defend against near-peEr threats and evolve to meet U.S. national security needs.

STATESPROVIDE MATERIALS FOR RCOH

“A carrier RCOH may be the most challenging engineering and industrial task undertaken anywhere by any organization.”

—RAND National Defense Research Institute Study, 2002