American naval architecture firm Gibbs & Cox Inc. has received a contract for supporting surface combatant ship design and engineering efforts for the US Navy’s future surface combatant force, primarily in support of the future DDG(X) program.
Under the deal, the company will work on the design of the future DDG(X) destroyer, as well as other emerging ship concepts, and conduct feasibility studies as part of supporting the broader US Navy fleet.
Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. and is expected to be completed by February 2023.
The contract also includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $319 million.
If all options are exercised, work will continue through February 2027. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting party, according to the US Navy.
The US Navy’s DDG(X) program includes procuring a class of next-generation guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) to replace the navy’s Ticonderoga (CG-47) class Aegis cruisers and its older Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class Aegis destroyers.
The US Navy wants to procure the first DDG(X) in 2030.
Last July, the government authorized the navy to enter into a multiyear contract to build up to 15 DDG-51 destroyers beginning in FY2023.