An ending that sits on no calendar line: 17 January 2036
A Navy contract with NASSCO worth about $3.36 billion. It ends on 17 January 2036, neither a month-end nor a quarter-end. Sixty-nine of the 208 records take this shape.
Contract key facts
- RecipientNATIONAL STEEL AND SHIPBUILDING COMPANY
- Contract value$3,364,669,843 (≈$3.36B)
- BranchNavy
- Awarding agencyDepartment of Defense
- Awarding sub-agencyDepartment of the Navy
- Award typeDEFINITIVE CONTRACT
- Period of performance2024-09-09 〜 2036-01-17
- Contract ID (PIID)N0002424C2301
Contract scope (original)
T-AO 214 - 221 DD&C BLOCK BUY
Key points
- Signed by the Department of the Navy on 9 September 2024 for about $3.36 billion, ending 17 January 2036, a period of 11.4 years.
- Of the 208 Defense Department contracts this site holds as of 2026-09-06, 69 (33.2%) end on a day that is not the last of its month.
- The description covers eight hulls, numbers 214 through 221, ordered as one block.
- The outlay field is empty, so no payment against the roughly $3.36 billion obligated appears in the record.
1Off the ruled lines
This series has watched endings gather: 34 on 30 September, 85 on quarter-ends, 139 on the last day of a month. It closes by looking outside them. This contract ends on 17 January 2036 — not a month-end, not a quarter-end, not a year-end, simply 17 January.
The counts come from the 208 Defense Department contracts this site holds as of 2026-09-06. One contract in three closes off the ruled lines. Aligning to the calendar is a strong habit, not a rule.
2Where the lines are missed, something else is speaking
Where an ending on a year boundary reflects the budget, a date off the ruled lines is more likely to reflect the work itself. For a contract building eight ships in sequence, an awkward date for the last delivery is entirely natural, and 11.4 years reads as the time to accumulate those hulls. The record does not say so, however. What can be read is only that the date is not aligned.
3Ordering ships together
"BLOCK BUY" in the description means several ships ordered as one package. Hulls 214 through 221 — eight of them — sit inside a single contract. Hull 205 of the same class is covered by a separate contract here, for the detail design and construction of one ship. Ordering one at a time and ordering in a block appear side by side for the same class.
Why it matters
Contract dates are settled by two forces: the budget calendar and the work itself. Dates that do not line up are the place to look for circumstances specific to one contract.
FAQ
What does an unaligned end date mean?
What changes when ships are ordered as a block?
Why does the period run 11.4 years?
Sources (primary)
This article is an independent organization based on the U.S. official spending data below. Verify the exact, latest details with the official source.
- USAspending (award details)
- Contract ID (PIID)：N0002424C2301