US Navy approves $17.45 million contract extension to modernize USS Iwo Jima for F-35B operations.

The U.S. Navy has approved a $17.45 million contract extension to continue modernizing the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) for sustained F-35B operations, reinforcing the Marine Corps’ shift toward fifth-generation expeditionary air power and “Lightning Carrier” concepts. Announced on May 22, 2026, the work extends a broader maintenance and upgrade effort at Norfolk through 2028 and is designed to keep the ship combat-ready into the next decade while expanding its role in distributed maritime and sea-control operations.

The modernization package focuses on the engineering demands imposed by the F-35B Lightning II, including reinforced flight deck sections, upgraded power distribution, expanded cooling systems, secure mission-data networks, and aviation support infrastructure required for high-tempo stealth fighter operations. By adapting the Wasp-class platform for larger F-35B air wings, the Navy and Marine Corps are increasing the ability of amphibious assault ships to generate strike sorties, support expeditionary advanced base operations, and provide additional sea-based combat aviation capacity alongside traditional aircraft carriers.

Related topic: U.S. Marine Corps to retire last AV-8B Harrier II jet in June 2026 as F-35B takes over

The modernization package is heavily centered on the F-35B Lightning II, as its vertical landing profiles impose significantly greater thermal stress on amphibious assault ship flight decks compared with AV-8B Harrier II operations. (Picture source: US Navy)

On May 22, 2026, the U.S Navy approved a $17.45 million contract modification for the Fiscal Year 2026 Selected Restricted Availability (FY2026 SRA) of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), extending a maintenance and modernization program scheduled to continue through May 2028 at Norfolk, Virginia. The modification exercised options tied to a January 8, 2026, NAVSEA contract awarded to BAE Systems Maritime Solutions Norfolk with a base value of $204.16 million and a potential cumulative value of $255.88 million.

The availability combines depot-level maintenance, structural repairs, combat systems modernization, aviation infrastructure upgrades, and lifecycle extension work intended to keep the ship operational into the 2030s while adapting it for sustained F-35B Lightning II operations. USS Iwo Jima, commissioned on June 30, 2001, as the seventh and final conventionally powered Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, is being modernized under the Marine Corps transition from AV-8B Harrier II operations toward fifth-generation expeditionary aviation and Lightning Carrier force structure concepts previously implemented aboard USS Wasp, USS Essex, USS America, and USS Tripoli. 

The USS Iwo Jima was laid down on December 12, 1997, launched on February 4, 2000, and commissioned on June 30, 2001, before reassignment to Norfolk as part of the Atlantic Fleet amphibious force structure. Early deployments supported Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom following the September 2001 attacks, including deployments with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit across the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and Arabian Gulf during 2003 and 2004. During Hurricane Katrina relief operations in September 2005, the ship functioned as a sea-based aviation, logistics, medical, and command hub supporting helicopter lift operations and emergency supply distribution near New Orleans.

USS Iwo Jima later participated in Operation Odyssey Dawn against Libya in March 2011, repeated Atlantic and Fifth Fleet deployments with MV-22B Osprey squadrons, and F-35B interoperability activity during late-2010s deployments. On January 3, 2026, the ship also participated in Operation Absolute Resolve, targeting Venezuelan leadership infrastructure in Caracas, during which Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores were transferred aboard USS Iwo Jima before transportation to the United States on federal narcoterrorism-related charges issued in 2020. 

The USS Iwo Jima Fiscal Year 2026 Selected Restricted Availability is categorized as a Chief of Naval Operations maintenance period rather than a major overhaul or Extended Docking Selected Restricted Availability, keeping the work largely pier-side while concentrating on combat systems, aviation infrastructure, propulsion inspections, and material condition restoration. The contract includes labor, supervision, testing, certification, facilities usage, and production activity required to complete corrosion repair, steel replacement, preservation coatings, propulsion plant inspections, electrical distribution repairs, auxiliary systems overhaul, and aviation support modifications tied to F-35B sustainment.

The package is structured to restore the USS Iwo Jima's operational readiness after more than two decades of continuous deployments across U.S Central Command, Fifth Fleet, Mediterranean, and Atlantic operational theaters. The USS Iwo Jima displaces roughly 40,500 tons at full load and measures approximately 257 meters in length with a beam of 31.8 meters and a draft of 8 meters. Propulsion is provided by two steam turbines generating approximately 70,000 shaft horsepower through two shafts, enabling sustained speeds near 22 knots during expeditionary deployments.

The ship incorporates a full-length flight deck, hangar deck, aircraft elevators, aviation fuel infrastructure, maintenance spaces, and a well deck supporting simultaneous amphibious and aviation operations. Embarked capacity reaches roughly 1,900 Marines together with armored vehicles, helicopters, landing craft, MV-22B Ospreys, and fixed-wing aircraft. Traditional aviation detachments include 6 AV-8B Harrier II and 6 F-35B fighter jets, 4 CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters, 4 AH-1 attack helicopters, 3 to 4 UH-1 utility helicopters, and 12 MV-22B tiltrotors, at a time when current Marine Corps restructuring increasingly reorganizes those air wings around F-35B squadrons and unmanned systems supporting expeditionary advanced base operations and distributed maritime warfare.

On the Wasp-class, the F-35B integration imposes substantially higher engineering and sustainment requirements than AV-8B operations because of the aircraft’s thermal output during short takeoff and vertical landing operations. Earlier Wasp-class modifications included thermal spray non-skid coatings and reinforced landing areas beneath vertical landing zones exposed to repeated high-temperature exhaust stress. Electrical load growth associated with F-35B operations also requires upgraded power distribution systems, expanded cooling capacity, hardened maintenance facilities, and secure networking infrastructure supporting mission planning and aircraft diagnostics.

Aviation modernization packages include secure data handling systems compatible with ALIS and ODIN softwares, together with modernization of JP-5 fuel storage systems, fueling stations, aviation ordnance handling equipment, and logistics support spaces. The Marine Corps “Lightning Carrier” model also envisions the Wasp-class amphibious assault ships embarking between 16 and 20 F-35Bs during sea control operations, generating significantly greater sortie capacity than traditional amphibious ready group air wings centered on helicopter assault missions and limited Harrier detachments.

Combat systems modernization aboard USS Iwo Jima likely includes upgrades to Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) hardware and Ship’s Signal Exploitation Equipment (SSEE) Increment F systems integrated into the ship’s command, communications, and electronic surveillance architecture. CANES replaces earlier segmented shipboard information systems, while SSEE Increment F supports signals intelligence collection and electromagnetic battlespace awareness missions. Electrical modernization includes cableway inspections, circuit breaker replacement, and restoration of degraded distribution infrastructure accumulated through repeated deployments since the early 2000s.

Auxiliary systems work includes overhaul activity on pumps, valves, piping systems, ventilation infrastructure, and machinery support equipment required for long-duration amphibious operations. Integrating network, combat systems, and structural modernization into scheduled maintenance periods reduces future operational downtime and preserves amphibious force availability during sustained fleet demand. BAE Systems Maritime Solutions Norfolk operates one of the Navy’s primary East Coast private-sector maintenance facilities supporting amphibious assault ships, destroyers, cruisers, and commercial ship repair activity within the Hampton Roads industrial base.

USS Iwo Jima’s availability follows earlier F-35B integration work performed aboard USS Wasp, allowing reuse of engineering procedures, tooling, and workforce experience developed during previous amphibious assault ship modernization programs. The solicitation required contractors to demonstrate sufficient pier space, crane access, subcontractor integration capability, and workforce depth capable of sustaining simultaneous maintenance activity across propulsion, structural, electrical, combat systems, and aviation disciplines.

Amphibious assault ship availabilities involve large multi-trade labor concentrations, including welders, marine electricians, coatings specialists, pipefitters, structural technicians, network engineers, and combat systems personnel. Long-duration maintenance availabilities increasingly compete for labor and industrial capacity against aircraft carrier overhauls, submarine maintenance backlogs, and Columbia-class submarine construction activity across the broader U.S naval industrial base.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.