RCOH.

This is coolbert:

From Danger Room and Wired:

Some observations regarding the process by which modern nuclear powered naval vessels undergo a refit and overhaul.

"The Massive Work That Goes Into Remodeling an Old Aircraft Carrier"

“During USS Abraham Lincoln’s 44-month RCOH, virtually every space will be touched as the crew, contractors, and the shipyard together pour more than 25 million man hours into our ship,”

THAT COST IN DOLLARS FOR THE LINCOLN RCOH MUST BE EXCEPTIONAL!! THOSE SHIPYARD WORKERS HIGHLY SKILLED AND PAID TRADE UNIONISTS AND ARTISANS MAKING BIG UNION WAGES. MINIMUM OF A BILLION DOLLARS [$$] IN WAGES ALONE FOR SUCH A RCOH I WOULD EXPECT!!

"In the United States Navy, Refueling and Overhaul (ROH) refers to a lengthy process or procedure performed on nuclear-powered Naval ships, which involves replacement of expended nuclear fuel with new fuel and a general maintenance fix-up, renovation, and often modernization of the entire ship . . . A ROH usually takes one to two years for submarines and up to almost three years for an aircraft carrier, to perform at a Naval shipyard. Time periods between ROHs on a ship have varied historically from about 5–20 years (for submarines) to up to 25 years (for Nimitz-class aircraft carriers) . . . .  A particularly lengthy refueling, maintenance, and modernization process for a nuclear aircraft carrier can last up to almost three years and be referred to as a Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH)."

A Kilo class Russian diesel/electric submarine taking nine years for refit we should then expect not to be so unusual. EVEN WITH THE OLDER AMERICAN SKIPJACK CLASS OF NUCLEAR POWERED SUBMARINE A HOLE HAVING TO CUT IN THE PRESSURE HULL TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE ATOMIC REACTOR, ALLOWING FOR THE REFUELING PROCESS TO OCCUR!!

Nobody ever said any of this was easy! Or cheap either!

coolbert.