SEA AIR SPACE 2023 — HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding is drawing up and proposing its own changes to the line of amphibious ships it builds in light of the Navy’s associated study on trimming down the costs and requirements of the San Antonio-class, according to a company executive.
“We’re doing some self-investment as well as working with the Navy on what a potential next [amphibious transport dock], whatever that becomes, would look like,” Kari Wilkinson, president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, told a group of reporters Monday on the sidelines of the Sea Air Space exposition. “We’ve done some trade studies. We’re trying to understand requirements to the best we can right now knowing that those could change.”
Wilkinson’s remarks come as a public feud between the Navy, Marine Corps and the Office of the Secretary of Defense plays out over the future of the Marine Corps’ amphibious shipbuilding production line. Wilkinson is the head of HII’s Mississippi-based shipyard, Ingalls Shipbuilding, the Navy’s longtime prime contractor for amphibious shipbuilding.
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“For the Marine Corps, if you listen to what’s out there, they’re about preserving the capabilities of the platform,” Wilkinson continued. “So any suggestions we’re going to make or investments we will make to look at what does the next-gen design look like are going to take those things in mind. Affordability is top of mind for Navy [and the] Marine Corps.”
Wilkinson also said Ingalls is considering all other opportunities of available work in light of potentially not seeing a steady line of amphibious ships in the budget. Extra one-off contracts are important for Ingalls in this situation because they allow the company to retain its skilled workforce even while waiting for a new amphib to appear in the Navy’s shipbuilding budget request. One prime opportunity is the new submarine tender the Navy plans to start buying in fiscal 2024.
HII’s offering will “look like” a ship the company is already building, she said, without offering more specifics.
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The Navy last April awarded HII, General Dynamics and L3 Harris contracts to study possible designs for the new tender, dubbed AS(X). Wilkinson said the request for proposals is expected later this year. Shipbuilding competitions are usually open to all of industry, but preliminary contracts for design studies often indicate the likely key players for an upcoming competition.
As the name implies, submarine tenders are support ships whose primary mission is to resupply the submarine fleet with food, fuel and other necessities.
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