Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] on Tuesday said it has launched the National Security Cutter (NSC) Kimball, the seventh Coast Guard Legend-class high endurance cutter, with the christening slated for next March.
Last Friday the company delivered the sixth NSC, the Munro, which will be commissioned on April 1, 2017.
Currently the Coast Guard has contracted for eight NSCs and has received funding from Congress for nine of the 418-foot vessels. Senate appropriators provided long-lead materials funding for a 10th NSC in their version of the FY ’17 budget but House appropriators did not. Budget differences haven’t been hammered out as the government is operating under a continuing resolution so far in FY ’17.
The Coast Guard’s original program of record was for eight NSCs. Its current top acquisition priority is the medium endurance cutter Offshore Patrol Cutter program.
“This is an important milestone for Kimball and the National Security Cutter program,” Brian Cuccias, president of HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding segment, said in a statement. “The hot NSC production line we have at Ingalls, with six ships delivered and two more under construction, is allowing us to build these highly capable ships in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.”
The Kimball is scheduled to be delivered to the Coast Guard in 2018 and the Midgett, which is the eighth NSC, in 2019.