Nassco won a $290.9-million Navy contract.

National Steel & Shipbuilding, in the midst of drastically trimming its work force after losing out on four major contracts in the past three years, received a contract to build a high-speed combat support ship for the Navy. Total value of the initial contract and options to build three more ships is $1 billion. The contract will allow Nassco, whose dwindling work force now numbers 2,300, to hire 1,500 new production workers. The 753-foot-long ships--called AOEs--receive fuel, ammunition and refrigerated and general cargo.