U.S. Navy Orders Four More LCS Vessels

Mar. 16, 2012 - 06:09PM |
By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS | Comments

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Construction contracts for four more Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) were awarded March 16 by the U.S. Navy, bringing the total number of LCS vessels under order or in service to 12.

Lockheed Martin received $715 million for two ships, or $357.5 million apiece.

Austal USA received $691.6 million for two ships, at $345.8 million each.

The funds do not include government-furnished equipment needed to fully outfit each ship, such as weapons or communications equipment.

All the ships were funded in the 2012 defense spending bill.

Lockheed will build the Little Rock (LCS 9) and Omaha (LCS 11) at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wis. The ships are to be delivered in February and August 2016, respectively, according to the 2013 budget.

Austal USA will build the Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) and Sioux City (LCS 12) at its yard in Mobile, Ala. The Giffords is to be delivered in August 2015, while the Sioux City is to follow in March 2016.

All four ships are part of two 10-ship, fixed-price incentive block buys covering ships from each builder from 2010 to 2015.

Two classes of LCS are in production: Lockheed’s LCS 1-class single-hull ships and Austal USA’s all-aluminum trimaran LCS 2 class. So far, all odd-numbered ships are built to the Lockheed design, while Austal USA’s ships are even-numbered.

The first two LCS ships are in commission, and two more are to enter service this year. The Fort Worth (LCS 3) is to be delivered in June from Lockheed, and Austal USA is aiming for a March 2013 delivery of the Coronado (LCS 4).