The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) has completed the dry dock phase of its mid-life overhaul and will now undergo final outfitting and testing.

Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, said that for the next 24 months it will finish the ship's overhaul and install major components and test ship systems.

In earlier work, it conducted repair and construction work inside and outside the ship, re-preserved hundreds of tanks and replaced thousands of valves, pumps and piping components. It also updated the vessel's propeller shafts and installed refurbished propellers.

"The end of the dry dock portion of the RCOH (refueling and complex overhaul) marks a significant milestone in the life of an aircraft carrier," said Chris Miner, Newport News' vice president of in-service aircraft carrier programs. "With Lincoln in the water, shipbuilders and sailors can focus on the final restoration, outfitting and testing of the ship's systems.

"Moving her to the outfitting berth marks the point when the crew move-aboard process begins and we bring the ship back to life."

The USS Abraham Lincoln arrived at Newport News in March 2013. It will be returned to the Navy in 2016.