U.S Navy’s USS Boxer Slated For Up To $180 Million Overhaul After Middle East Deployment

USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship of the U.S Navy, will undergo a major overhaul at the San Diego yard of BAE Systems until October 2028 after coming back from its deployment in the Middle East.

The Wasp-class ship will see upgrades to its propulsion system, rudder systems, hulls and tanks, and repairs focusing on maintaining its structural integrity, given that the ship was commissioned in 1995 and is now quite old, needing modernisation.

The contract is valued at around $180 million; however, it is much needed, given the mechanical issues that the vessel encountered over the past 2 years.

In 2024, its rudder bearing failed, forcing it to return to its home port in San Diego just ten days after it left for a deployment.

The ship had undergone an overhaul in 2020, costing $ 200 million to modify its flight deck for supporting stealth fighter jets of the Marine Corps.

However, the U.S Navy deployed it as the flagship of an Amphibious Ready Group along with two other vessels, the USS Comstock and USS Portland, to the U.S Central Command along with the Marines from Camp Pendleton’s 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit to support Operation Epic Fury.

During its deployment, the vessel targeted Iranian military sites and strategic assets across the region to weaken Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz.

The ongoing U.S-Iran war had also extended the deployment of aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to over 250 days, raising concerns about the mental health of the 5000 personnel onboard the vessel, which had not made any port calls and suffered from a shortage of food, water, clogged toilets and even mould.

Nonetheless, Lincoln operated along with the USS Boxer group, and the Navy has not disclosed any return date for the latter or even given confirmation about their port calls in Guam or Hawaii.