USA: Four New Littoral Combat Ships Receive Funding

The U.S. Dod issued contract modifications yesterday to Lockheed Martin Corporation and Austal USA under their respective Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) block buy contracts to add funding for construction of two fiscal year 2014 Littoral Combat Ships each.

The amount of funds added under the block buy contract with Lockheed Martin Corporation for the fiscal year 2014 LCS ships is $699 million. The amount of funds added under the block buy contract with Austal USA for the fiscal year 2014 LCS ships is $684 million. The ships will be built at Fincantieri Marinette Marine Corporation in Marinette, Wis., and Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., respectively.

The prices for the fiscal year 2014 ships were determined based on the competitive, LCS dual block buy contracts that were awarded December 29, 2010.

These are the seventh and eighth ships fully funded for each contractor under its previously-awarded, fixed-price incentive “block buy” contract for the design and construction of up to ten LCS Flight 0+ ships. The two block buy contracts provide for the acquisition of a total of up to 20 Littoral Combat Ships from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2015, subject to availability of appropriations.

The additional funding obligated is for the 17th – 20th ships in the LCS class. Presently, four LCS ships have been delivered to the Navy. USS Freedom (LCS 1) concluded its first deployment in December 2013 and is currently at its home port in San Diego. USS Independence (LCS 2) is undergoing Mine Countermeasures developmental testing in San Diego. USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) is scheduled to begin initial operational testing and evaluation of its surface warfare mission module in March, and Coronado (LCS 4) is scheduled to be commissioned April 5, 2014, in Coronado, Calif.

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Press Release, March 11, 2014, Image: US Navy