US Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln completes PIA

The US Navy’s Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) has successfully completed its planned incremental availability (PIA).

Navy1 — PSNS & IMF completed USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) availability. Credit: PSNS & IMF photo by Robin Lee.

The US Navy’s Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) has successfully completed its planned incremental availability (PIA).

The PIA was carried out by Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility’s (PSNS & IMF) San Diego Detachment.

It began in September last year and logged in 230,000 man-days of work. The availability carried an overall cost of $160m.

Work on the carrier included periodic maintenance, upgrades to crew living, refrigeration and laundry spaces, as well as modernisation to combat systems.

Furthermore, the aircraft carrier underwent retrofits to accommodate F-35 fighter jet.

The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) was launched in 1988 and subsequently commissioned with the US Navy in 1989. The vessel was built by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.

Project superintendent Paula Chapman said: “No availability is easy, and this one was no exception to that, but as a team we navigated and overcame each challenge.

“As the project superintendent I am proud of every member of ‘Team Lincoln,’ for the ability to fight through challenges together in support of the mission.”

To overcome the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the project team organised ‘military aircraft flights to maintain bubble-to-bubble transport for project members’.

This helped reduce the risks associated with Covid-19 infection and its outbreak, noted PSNS & IMF.

Other efforts to limit the spread of Covid-19 included ‘setting up handwashing and sanitiser stations’ and temporary barriers between desks.

Abraham Lincoln project engineering and planning manager Brittany Spiker said: “The work of the crew was exceptional.

“The amount of first-time quality on this project is unparalleled. The abilities of all members of the project team to identify and tackle problems efficiently led to on-time project completion.”

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) was awarded a $2.6bn contract for the refuelling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of USS Abraham Lincoln.

In June 2018, the CVN 72 successfully completed the four-day Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV).