General Dynamics [GD] was awarded a $106 million contract by the U.S. Navy to procure long lead time material and engineering support for the Expeditionary Mobile Base 5 (ESB-5), formerly known as the Mobile Landing Platform Afloat Forward Staging Base program.
In 2011, the Navy awarded GD a contract to design and build the first two ships in the new Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) program, the USNS Montford Point and USNS John Glenn. The program expanded to a third unit, reconfigured as an Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), the USNS Lewis B. Puller.
The ESB is designed to serve as a flexible platform and a key element in the Navy’s Air Mine Counter Measures (AMCM) mission while also capable of performing counter-piracy operations, maritime security operations, humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions, and U.S. Marine Corps crisis response, GD said.
The mobile base has accommodations for up to 250 personnel and includes a 52,000 square-foot helicopter flight deck. It is also configured with fuel and equipment storage, repair spaces, magazines, and mission planning spaces.
GD is currently building the fourth program ship, an AFSB reclassified as an ESB, the USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams.
Procurement of long-lead time materials is expected to be finished by March 2017.