The Navy awarded HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding [HII] a $2.4 billion contract modification on Oct. 27 for the detail, design and construction of the fourth America-class amphibious assault ship, LHA-9.
The Navy previously started awarding long-lead-time material (LLTM) contracts to start LHA-9 work in 2020 (Defense Daily, May 1, 2020) and HII most recently won a $114 million LLTM award for the future ship almost a year ago (Defense Daily, Nov. 22, 2021).
The service cumulatively awarded HII about $651 million in LLTM awards before this award, the company said.
Work under this fixed-price-incentive contract will primarily occur at the Ingalls Shipbuilding facility in Pascagoula, Miss. (72 percent) with the remaining occurring at various other U.S. locations. The construction is expected to be finished by September 2029.
The contract includes options that, if exercised, will raise the total value of the contract to nearly $3.2 billion and extend the work through March 2031.
The contract was not competitively procured in accordance with regulations with HII as the only responsible source.
“Ingalls shipbuilders are ready to build the Navy’s newest LHA. We understand how important this work is, and consider it an honor to be given the opportunity to deliver this capability to the fleet. We value our partnership with the Navy and all of our critical supplier partners,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said in a statement.
HII noted LHA-9 construction is scheduled to start this December.
Beyond LHA-9, Ingalls Shipbuilding is currently building the third America-class ship, the future USS Bougainville (LHA-8).
HII noted LHA-9 will include the aviation capability of the class but also adding the well deck and a larger flight deck configured for F-35B Joint Strike Fighters and MV-22 Ospreys, like LHA-8.
Ingalls Shipbuilding produces the America-class amphibious assault ships, San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Coast Guard Legend-class National Security Cutters.
The Navy’s fiscal year 2023 budget request plans to complete funding and construction of LHA-9 as planned but would slow the purchase of LHA-10 to FY ‘31, eight to 11 years after LHA-9 was procured, depending on which procurement year is used.
In May, Jay Stefany, Principal Civilian Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, admitted at a House Armed Services seapower subcommittee hearing that gap is more than the ideal production timeline of five years between ships (Defense Daily, May 18).