US Navy selects 25 companies for up to $1.9 billion nuclear submarine contract
The multi-award contract will support the scheduled repair and maintenance of nuclear-powered attack submarines at the US Navy’s primary public shipyards.
Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, delivered the National Security Cutter (NSC) James (WMSL 754) to the US Coast Guard on 5 June. The ship will be commissioned in Boston, Massachusetts on 8 August.
The Legend-class NSC James is the fifth vessel of its type to be built by Ingalls Shipbuilding for the coast guard. This fleet will replace the 378ft Hamilton-class cutters, and will perform maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defence missions.
Jim French, NSC programme manager, Ingalls Shipbuilding, said: ‘Ingalls shipbuilders continue to prove they're committed to building the world's best ships. The NSC programme continues to prove the benefits of continuous production, which allows us to learn and improve from ship to ship.
‘From this learning, we are able to build quality ships affordably, safely and on schedule, all the while maintaining the industry standards. All of the Ingalls-built NSCs have been top quality, and James is no exception.’
The Legend-class cutters have a length of 418ft, beam of 54ft and displacement of 4,500 tons. They have a top speed of 28 knots, endurance of 60 days and range of 12,000 miles.
The vessel has an aft launch and recovery area that can accommodate two rigid-hull inflatable boats, and a flight deck for unmanned and manned rotorcraft.
The multi-award contract will support the scheduled repair and maintenance of nuclear-powered attack submarines at the US Navy’s primary public shipyards.
Hot on the heels of Norway selecting BAE Systems to build five Type 26 anti-submarine frigates, the UK government is reportedly in ‘advanced talks’ on new warship orders for two more Scandinavian countries.
The Israeli defence technology company has taken the wraps off two autonomous vessels ahead of DSEI as it sets its sights on scalability and cost reduction.
The US Navy and US Coast Guard (USCG) are in critical need of support to build icebreakers, surface vessels and submarines.
The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) has a crunch time coming up as it looks to refresh its fleet before 2040, and prepares to begin operating Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters, although it is at the back of a long ordering queue. A key part of any solution is looking at what neighbouring Australia is buying.
Agreements with Inventech Marine Solutions and North River Boats cover the acquisition of trailerable aids to navigation boats and cutter boats - aids to navigation – small.