Litton's Ingalls Shipbuilding won the U.S. Navy contract modification valued at $105.5 million for initial funding of the ongoing repair and restoration of the Aegis guided missile destroyer USS COLE (DDG 67). The USS COLE was damaged in an October 12, 2000 terrorist attack in Aden, Yemen.
In November 2000, Litton Ingalls was selected by the U.S. Navy to repair USS COLE, which arrived at the Litton shipyard in mid-December last year. Litton Ingalls has been working under a letter contract that covered a damage assessment as well as work required to return the ship to an on-land production area at Litton Ingalls for the repair and restoration project. Additional modifications to the contract are subject to a full damage assessment and changes in the scope of the restoration work. "We began work on USS COLE as soon as she arrived in December," said Jerry St. Pé, Litton executive vice president and chief operating officer of Litton Ship Systems. "Our mission is not only to return COLE to fleet duty, but to return her to the fleet in "better-than-new" condition."