Huntington Ingalls Industries, its Ingalls Shipbuilding division, has been awarded a $51.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for life-cycle engineering and support services on the U.S. Navy’s USS San Antonio (LPD 17) class of amphibious transport dock ships. This is the second of four annual options associated with a base contract awarded in February 2010, with a potential value of $249.4 million.
The February 2010 contract award to Ingalls was the second for LPD ship services. The first contract was awarded in 2005. Two more options are expected.
“ To be awarded this option is critical because it allows our extensive post-delivery support work to continue on these complex amphibious ships ,” said Doug Lounsberry, Ingalls Shipbuilding’s vice president and program manager, LPD 17 . “ We remain committed to building the utmost quality amphibious ships, and this focus continues even after ships enter the fleet. These support service contracts provide necessary engineering resources to ensure the men and women of our U.S. Navy and U.S Marine Corps have the best possible product in defending freedom .”
Services provided in this contract include post-delivery planning and engineering, systems integration and engineering support, research engineering, material support, fleet modernization program planning, supply chain management, maintenance and training for certain LPD 17-class shipboard systems.
The LPD 17-class ships are a key element of the Navy’s ability to project power ashore. Collectively they functionally replace more than 41 ships (the LPD 4, LSD 36, LKA 113 and LST 1179 classes of amphibious ships), providing the Navy and Marine Corps with modern, sea-based platforms that are networked, survivable and built to operate with 21st century platforms, such as the MV-22 Osprey.
The San Antonio-class ships are 684 feet long and 105 feet wide and displace approximately 25,000 tons. Their principal mission is to deploy the combat and support elements of Marine Expeditionary Units and Brigades. The ships can carry up to 800 troops and have the capability of transporting and debarking landing craft air cushion (LCAC) or conventional landing crafts, augmented by helicopters or vertical take-off and landing aircraft such as the MV-22. These ships will support amphibious assault, special operations or expeditionary warfare missions through the first half of the 21st century.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. Employing nearly 38,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, its primary business divisions are Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, November 23, 2011;