The Navy on Thursday evening awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Austal for construction of the 25th and 26th Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).
The awards modify the each shipbuilder’s’ existing 10-ship block buy contract to add an 11th ship, including basic seaframe construction, selected ship systems integration and test, and selected ship systems equipment. Both vessels are not to exceed the $564 million congressional cost cap, according to the contracting notice, which does not specify how much money will be released to fund the two LCS.
With this award, Lockheed Martin will produce the Freedom-variant LCS 25 with shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin. Austal will build the Independence-variant LCS 26 in its Mobile, Ala., shipyard. For both companies, this will be the 13th LCS under construction.
Under the current plan, the LCS program will transition to a single vendor in FY 2019, although that may occur as early as FY 2018 based on the proposed frigate design and the modified block buy cost, Navy officials said in February (Defense Daily, Feb. 25).
Austal has delivered three LCSs so far, and will deliver LCS-8, the USS Montgomery, later this year.
“The Austal LCS team has demonstrated exceptional work in providing an affordable sea frame that is not only capable of meeting the Navy’s needs of today but extremely capable of meeting future requirements,” Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said.
Lockheed Martin has also delivered three ships, and has seven more in various stages of production, according to a company news release. It also noted that since the block buy contract was put in place, the cost per ship has decreased to about half the cost of the first few LCSs.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with the U.S. Navy to build and deliver the capable Freedom-class LCS to the fleet,” Joe North, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of littoral ships and systems, said in a statement. “Over 12,000 people and 500 suppliers in 37 states contribute to this critical program and will continue to do so as we transition to the new Freedom-class Frigate in the coming years.”
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