Newport News Shipbuilding is to continue to assist with planning for the refueling and complex overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.

The contract option exercised by the U.S. Navy is worth $185.2 million and funds the continuation of planning, long-lead-time material procurement, shop fabrication, shipboard inspections and facilities readiness for the RCOH in 2017.

Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is to conduct the refueling and complex overhaul in 2017.

"The company looks forward to our continued partnership with the Navy as we complete the planning efforts in support of the start of the RCOH ...," said Chris Miner, Newport News' vice president of in-service aircraft carrier programs. "This contract award allows the continued planning for all the work associated with a full RCOH, which underscores the Navy's continued commitment to ensuring this great national asset remains in the fleet and operational for another 25 years."

A RCOH accounts for more than 35 percent of all maintenance and modernization in an aircraft carrier's 50-year service life. Work includes the refueling of the ship's reactors, extensive modernization work to more than 2,300 compartments, 600 tanks and hundreds of distributive systems.