Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] has received a $499.8 million contract from the Coast Guard to build the eighth and final National Security Cutter (NSC), which will be delivered in 2019.
The contract price is in line with the $497 million the company received one year ago for the seventh NSC, which will be delivered in 2018 (Defense Daily, April 1, 2014).
“We are performing extremely well in this program, proving the point that serial production is the most efficient and effective way to build complex military ships,” Jim French, NSC program manager at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division, said in a statement. “We continue to fold in learning for each ship we build, and the three under construction right now are tracking well because of this knowledge.”
So far HII has delivered four NSCs to the Coast Guard and three more are currently under construction. The James will be delivered this year, the Munro in 2016, and the Kimball in 2018.
Last summer the Coast Guard awarded HII $76.7 million to procure long-lead materials for NSC 8, the Midgett (WMSL-757).
The eight 418-foot high-endurance Legend-class NSCs are replacing 12 aging 378-foot Hamilton-class cutters.
Separately, the Coast Guard this week commissioned its 12th Fast Response Cutter (FRC), the Isaac Mayo, which will be based in Key West, Fla. The Coast Guard is acquiring 58 of the 154-foot Sentinel-ticlass cutters. Bollinger Shipyards is the shipbuilder for the first 32 vessels and the Coast Guard has initiated a new competition to acquire the remaining 26 FRCs.