General Dynamics NASSCO, a business unit of General Dynamics in the United States, has announced it has received an order valued at $1.7 billion for the construction of the T-AO 215 and T-AO 216 fleet replenishment oilers for the US Navy.
The two new vessels are part of NASSCO’s current multi-ship contract with the US Navy for the construction of up to eight more John Lewis class fleet replenishment oilers (from T-AO 214 to 221).
The Contract with NASSCO
In 2016, the Navy assigned to NASSCO a contract for the design and construction of the first six new-generation fleet replenishment units, the John Lewis class.
In 2022, the contract was revised to add three more units (T-AO 211-213); consequently, in 2024, NASSCO received from the US Navy an additional contract to build eight ships, the T-AO 10-17.
Characteristics of John Lewis Class Units
Designed to transfer fuel to US Navy vessels operating in high seas, these 742-foot-long fleet replenishment units have a full-load displacement of 49,850 tons, the ability to transport 162,000 barrels of oil or aviation fuel (24,800 m3), a significant dry cargo load ability equivalent to 55,662 cubic feet of dry goods storage and 40,099 cubic feet of refrigerated goods, and aviation capacities.
Thanks to two diesel engines with a total of 28,800 hp, these units can navigate at speeds up to 20 knots and reach an autonomy greater than 6,000 nautical miles.
On board the John Lewis class units, seven UNREP stations are installed for refuelling at sea, five of which are intended for fuel transfer, three on the port side (left) and two on the starboard (right); these ships are able to supply fuel to two vessels simultaneously; the remaining two stations are dedicated to transferring dry loads.
These ships are built with a double hull to prevent fuel spills and have reinforced load and ballast tanks.
The units are armed with heavy M2 12.7×99 mm machine guns and are equipped with an AN/SLQ-25A Nixie anti-torpedo countermeasures system; moreover, they have sufficient reserve of space, weight, and power to allow the onboard systems for close-in defense such as the SeaRAM.
The State of The Program
At present, the first four ships of the program have been delivered to the US Navy, while five additional T-AO are currently under construction in various stages at the NASSCO shipyard.
The US Navy plans to purchase a total of 20 John Lewis class fleet replenishment units, each of which will have a crew of about 100 sailors; in case of war needs, the crew goes up to 125 sailors for the deployment of onboard weapons.
Source and photo credit @General Dynamics
