BAE Systems was awarded a $23.4 million contract for post shakedown availability work on the USS Thomas Hudner, a guided-missile destroyer that was commissioned last December.

The contract also includes an option for post shakedown of the future USS Paul Ignatius, the Department of Defense announced Thursday.

With options, the new contract rises to a cumulative value of $55.4 million.

Post shakedown availability encompasses manpower, support services, material, non-standard equipment and associated technical data and documentation required for corrections and engineering changes after handover from the manufacturer.

The PSA includes correction of government responsible trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of post shakedown, and incorporation of approved engineering changes not incorporated during construction, or that were not the building yard's responsibility under the construction contract.

Work by BAE Systems' ship repair will be performed at the Hudner's home port of Mayport, Fla., and is expected to be complete by May 2020 if all options are exercised.

Naval fiscal 2019 and 2012 shipbuilding and conversion funding in the amount of $16.2 million will be obligated at time of award. About $3.7 million of the 2012 funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Last November, the Navy accepted delivery of the vessel, which is the 66th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The commissioning was in Boston.

USS Thomas Hudner is named for the naval aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. He was awarded the decoration in 1951 for heroism in the Korean War and laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery last April.

The USS Paul Ignatius, which is named after the 59th secretary of the Navy, was christened in 2017, completed acceptance trials last December and is to be delivered to the Navy later this year.

U.S. Navy plans return to flying Union Jack
Washington (UPI) Feb 22, 2019 –

The U.S. Navy will fly its 50-star flag, known as the Union Jack, on its ships beginning in June, switching back from the First Navy Jack that has been flown since 2002.

The blue flag with 50 white stars, essentially the upper left quadrant of the U.S. flag, replaces the First Navy Jack, which has been in use on Navy vessels since 2002, the Navy announced on Thursday.

That flag, featuring 13 red and white stripes, a rattlesnake and the phrase "Don't Tread on Me," was first used by the Continental Navy in 1775 during the American Revolution. A version of the traditional Union Jack, which now has 50 white stars on it, was first flown in 1777.

The Navy switched from the traditional Union Jack to the First Navy Jack on Sept. 12, 2002, and was meant to be flown during the global war on terror.

The Navy's return to the union jack will commemorate the 1942 World War II Battle of Midway, and the flag's use will begin on June 4.

"Make no mistake, we have entered a new era of competition. We must recommit to the core attributes that made us successful at Midway: integrity, accountability, initiative and toughness," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. "For more than 240 years, the union jack, flying proudly from jackstaffs aboard U.S. Navy warships, has symbolized these strengths."

The commissioned ship with the longest active status, excluding the USS Constitution, which was commissioned in 1797 and restored as a floating museum in Charlestown, Mass., will display the First Navy Jack. That re-established custom is the honor of the USS Blue Ridge, the command ship of the Navy's Seventh Fleet, which was commissioned in 1970.