Nassco to Add Weapon System to Destroyer

National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. on Wednesday received a $26.6-million contract to add an advanced weapons system to a Navy destroyer, the USS Hewitt. The overhaul will not create new jobs at the shipyard but will provide work through April, 1988, for 375 workers already employed at the yard.

In May, Nassco will begin fitting the Hewitt with a Tomahawk cruise missile launching system and an anti-submarine warfare combat system.

Both of those weapons systems are to be included on the new Arleigh Burke destroyer class that the navy has budgeted. Nassco is one of several shipbuilders that has submitted bids to build the new destroyers.

Nassco, which has 2,300 workers on its payroll, employed about 7,500 employees at its peak.