The US Navy has awarded two contracts for the construction of the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided missile destroyer DDG 119 as well as construction of an additional DDG 51 Class ship.
Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division will construct the DDG 119 ship. The $602m contract modification also provides $79.4m in advanced procurement funding for fiscal 2016/2017.
Scheduled to be completed by July 2023, work under the $602m contract modification will be carried out in Mississippi, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and other locations.
Under a $642m modification to the existing fixed-price incentive firm target (FPIF) contract, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works will build an additional Arleigh Burke-class destroyer for the US Navy.
The modification also provides the same advanced procurement funding, with the work expected to be completed at the same time also.
US Navy research, development and acquisition assistant secretary Sean Stackley said that the navy was able to apply cost savings and procure one additional ship, delivering a vital warfighting asset to the fleet, by leveraging competition throughout the DDG 51 shipbuilding programme.
"The continued support of Congress for the DDG 51 programme, including the appropriation of funding required to resolve sequestration shortfalls and allow funding of the option ship, enables critical industrial base stability while ensuring the most efficient and affordable build plan for these destroyers," Stackley added.
Relying on stable and mature infrastructure, the destroyers will be manufactured in a Flight IIA configuration with spiral upgrades to the weapons and sensor suites to increase the ship’s air and missile defence capabilities.
Image: USS McCampbell (DDG 85) transits the Western Pacific Ocean. Photo: US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Chris Cavagnaro/Released.
