The Coast Guard on Monday said it awarded shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] a $497 million contract for production of the seventh Legend-class National Security Cutter (NSC), leaving just one ship left to be funded and built in the service’s line of new high-endurance cutters.
The cutter Kimball (WMSL 756), which will be built at HII’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., is slated to begin construction in January 2015 with delivery set for 2018. The construction contract follows award last June of a $76.8 million contract to purchase long-lead materials for the vessel (Defense Daily, June 17, 2013).
In April 2013, the Coast Guard awarded HII a $487.1 million contract for construction of NSC 6, the Munro, which is scheduled to be delivered in late 2016 (Defense Daily, Oct. 9, 2013).
“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,” Jim French, Ingalls Shipbuilding program manager, said in a statement.
The Coast Guard currently operates three NSCs and three more are in construction. NSC 4, the Hamilton, is scheduled to be delivered later this year.