HII to Build Seventh Legend-Class Security Cutter for USCG

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced yesterday that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a $497 million fixed-price, incentive-fee contract from the U.S. Coast Guard to build a seventh Legend-class National Security Cutter (WMSL 756).

“We have a hot production line with this class of ships, and we continue to get better—a tangible result demonstrating the value of serial production,” said Ingalls NSC Program Manager Jim French. “Each ship is built more effectively and more affordably than the one before it, and this is due to the hard work of our shipbuilders who are implementing efficient build plans and bringing our learning curve down as each ship is delivered. We look forward to starting construction on this ship in January 2015.”

Ingalls has delivered the first three NSCs and has three more under construction. Hamilton (WMSL 753) is 81 percent complete and will deliver in the third quarter of 2014; James (WMSL 754) is 52 percent complete and will launch in April, and the sixth NSC (WMSL 755) began construction late last year and is scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 2015. The seventh ship, WMSL 756, is scheduled for delivery in 2018.

Legend-class NSCs are the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet. Designed to replace the 378‐foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters that entered service during the 1960s, they are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 110.

NSCs are capable of meeting all maritime security mission needs required of the high-endurance cutter. They include an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid hull inflatable boats and a flight deck to accommodate a range of manned and unmanned rotary wing aircraft. The Legend class is the largest and most technologically advanced class of cutter in the Coast Guard, with robust capabilities for maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions. NSCs play an important role enhancing the Coast Guard’s operational readiness, capacity and effectiveness at a time when the demand for their services has never been greater.

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Naval Today Staff, April 1, 2014; Image: HII