From Jane's weekly.The US Navy (USN) has awarded contract...

From Jane's weekly.

The US Navy (USN) has awarded contract modifications worth USD1.38 billion in total to Austal USA and Lockheed Martin for the construction of four Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).

Austal has received USD684 million to build two more aluminium trimaran Independence-class vessels; Lockheed Martin was awarded USD699 million to build two steel monohull Freedom-class variants.

The awards are part of a dual 'block-buy' contract that was awarded by the USN in 2010 for the construction of 10 LCS by each contractor over the fiscal year (FY) 2010-2015 period.

In a statement released on 11 March, Australian shipbuilder Austal Limited said that the additional vessels will be the seventh and eighth warships it would build under its 10-vessel, USD3.5 billion contract.

The company currently has five LCS vessels under various stages of construction at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama including USS Jackson (LCS 6), Austal's first as prime contractor. General Dynamics, in partnership with Austal, was the prime on lead ship USS Independence (LCS 2) and pre-commissioning unit Coronado (LCS 4), which is to commission on 5 April. Jackson was launched in December 2013 and is preparing for sea trials before scheduled delivery by the end of 2014. Montgomery (LCS 8) is scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 2014.

For Lockheed Martin, the award provides funds to construct the seventh and eighth Freedom-class ships under the block-buy arrangement. Indianapolis (LCS 17) and the yet-to-be-named LCS 19 will follow sister ships Little Rock (LCS 9), Sioux City (LCS 11), Wichita (LCS 13), and Billings (LCS 15), which are in various stages of construction at Fincantieri's Marinette Marine Corp yard in Marinette, Wisconsin.

Milwaukee (LCS 5), Lockheed Martin's first ship under the block-buy contract, was launched in December 2013, and is preparing for trials expected to begin by the fourth quarter of 2014.

"We hope to complete dock, sea, and acceptance trials before the end of the year," Joe North, Lockheed Martin's vice-president of littoral ships and systems, told IHS Jane's on 6 March. Detroit (LCS 7) is to be launched in mid-2014.

Apart from the LCS contract, Austal is also currently delivering a USD1.6 billion contract from the USN to build 10 103 m Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSVs), all of which are fully funded. Two have been delivered to date, with the third scheduled for delivery by the end of March. Three more are currently under construction.

COMMENT
The contract modifications for LCS seaframes 17-20 were part of the US Navy's fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget. The USN had originally planned to complete the 20-ship block-buy in FY 2015, with acquisition of the remaining four ships - two Freedom-class hulls and two Independence-class hulls.

However, in the navy's FY 2015 budget request, officials are planning to acquire only 3 LCS, resulting from Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's directive to the USN to truncate the LCS programme at 32 vessels instead of the planned 52-ship class, and examine options for a "frigate-like" surface combatant to succeed the current LCS designs.

It is unclear how the navy will go about procuring those three LCS in FY 2015. If officials opt to continue the dual buy from both contractors, then one of the shipyards is to receive an order for only one seaframe as opposed to two.

In the navy's original acquisition plan, a second block buy of LCS had been anticipated to commence in FY 2016, with a possible downselect to one ship design as a potential option. Now, however, the navy has revealed its plans to continue the Flight 0 LCS through FY 2019 - acquiring 3 LCS per year through FY 2018 to complete the 32-ship class. The navy has pencilled in procurement of 2 LCS in FY 2019 - a placeholder for whatever may follow.

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert told reporters at the Pentagon on 10 March that he will issue a memo directing a task force to study options for the small surface combatant, including an assessment of the current LCS programme and what it might take to carry on, as well as a survey of other options in the marketplace. The task force is expected to report back in July.

Starting from scratch on a new programme, the CNO noted, would be a challenge.

"If you start from scratch, my concern on that would be time," he said. "Today we have about 20 small surface combatants. Twenty years ago, we had about 40 to 45. We need more small surface combatants. This is what LCS is filling in for us. It's not a destroyer. It's a small surface combatant. To start from scratch, it takes time. The littoral combat ship, it was [considered] fast. It took 10 years."

Cost and timing will be part of the conversation, CNO added. "The secretary told us, 'I want to get back on the production track as soon as feasible, taking these matters in consideration.' It will be a big factor," Adm Greenert said.