The US Navy has awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to Northrop for support services on new and commissioned submarines, surface ships and other foreign navies.

Under the $42.4m contract, Northrop will provide engineering, technical analyses, mechanical and electrical design, manufacturing, installation, test and evaluation, and emergent field repair services at naval shipyards and fleet homeports.

Northrop submarine programmes and fleet support vice-president Becky Stewart said maintenance and modernisation would be provided to a wide range of US Navy nuclear and conventionally powered ships.

Northrop Grumman’s Newport News facility is the prime contractor and is one of two US shipyards capable of building nuclear-powered submarines.