The General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (GD NASSCO) has received a $744m fixed-price incentive fee contract from the US Navy for two mobile landing platform (MLP) ships.
The contract follows previous contracts awarded for preliminary work on the ships, including a $115m contract to provide for long-lead material for the first ship.
Under the contract, the company will provide the originally proposed detail design and construction of the two ships.
The ships will feature a reconfigurable mission deck, a vehicle staging area to carry up to three air-cushioned landing craft.
The US Navy has plans to place an order for a total of three ships, which will be assigned to maritime prepositioning ship squadrons.
Work on the contract will be performed in California, Alabama, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Louisiana and at various sites throughout the US as well as outside the nation.
Delivery of the first unnamed ship will take place in 2013, though it is not expected to be operational until 2015.
