US Navy awards USD9.5 billion in amphibious ship construction contracts to HII

HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding was awarded USD9.5 billion to build four amphibious ships. (Grace Jean)

The US Navy (USN) awarded a duo of contracts on 24 September worth about USD9.5 billion in total to buy one America-class amphibious assault ship (LHA) and three San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock (LPD) ships from HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding unit, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) confirmed the same day.

The mutiship buy will save the USN about USD901 million over the course of the contracts, compared with the costs of procuring the ships separately, NAVSEA noted.

While most of the material savings will be achieved in the LPDs, simply because there are three ships compared with one LHA, there are economic order savings across the board for the different ship programmes, said Tom Rivers, NAVSEA executive director, Amphibious, Auxiliary and Sealift, during a 24 September media roundtable discussion about the contracts.

In a statement, HII said the deal is “the first of its kind for amphibious ships”.

The agreements provide stable shipyard workload well into the early 2030s, providing a consistent demand signal to vendors, NAVSEA said in a statement about the contracts award.

HII estimates it has 650 suppliers in 39 states nationwide that provide components for the construction of amphibious ships.

“The importance of this multiple amphibious ship purchase cannot be overstated with respect to our whole-of-government effort to restore the maritime capabilities of the United States,” USN Secretary Carlos Del Toro said a statement. “This purchase sends a steady demand signal to our shipbuilding industrial base that our navy is actively investing in our shipbuilding infrastructure.”

The contracts include about USD40 million in provisions specifically targeting workforce training, augmentation, and retention measures, Rivers said.