Navy inks long awaited $9.4B deal with HII for 4 amphibious warships

WASHINGTON — The Navy today announced it has awarded contracts to HII for construction of four amphibious warships, executing a block buy deal years in the making that the service says is expected to save the service up to $901 million compared to buying the ships one-by-one.

“The importance of this multiple amphibious ship purchase cannot be overstated with respect to our whole-of-government effort to restore the maritime capabilities of the United States,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said in a statement. “This purchase sends a steady demand signal to our shipbuilding industrial base that our Navy is actively investing in our shipbuilding infrastructure.”

The ships purchased under the $9.4 billion-worth of contracts are three San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks (LPD-33 in fiscal 2025, LPD-34 in FY27, and LPD-35 in FY29) and one amphibious assault ship, (LHA-10 in FY27), also referred to as a “large-deck amphib.” The San Antonio-class ships were included in a multi-ship procurement contract, while the America-class amphibious assault ship is part of a contract modification.

The number of amphibious ships in the fleet has become an increasingly urgent concern for the Navy and Marine Corps in recent years, with both the commandant and the chief of naval operations publicly committing to the service’s requirement of 31 ships. Lt. Gen. Eric Austin, the Marine Corps’ top requirements officer, told reporters today that the service is currently meeting that goal with its fleet of 32 vessels, but the new contract will allow older ships to be retired.

“Another key point that I think is important to offer is it’s not just 31 amphibs. It’s 10 big deck amphibs, [the] LHAs, and 21 LPDs is where we think we need to sustain our floor of amphibs,” he said. “In the CNO’s NAVPLAN, and certainly in many other discussions, it’s clear to us that it’s not just the number of amphibs. It’s also amphibious ship readiness that matters, and we’re all committed to improving that to maintain the readiness necessary to support the forward presence that our combatant commanders are demanding.”

Del Toro in August sent lawmakers a letter, first reported by POLITICO, notifying them that the service and HII, which builds the amphibious ships at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi, had reached a deal.

The four ships “will support amphibious assault, special operations, and expeditionary warfare of US Marines, moving Marines into theater and supporting humanitarian and contingency missions on short notice,” according to a description included in Del Toro’s letter to lawmakers.

RELATED: Navy Secures Multi-Ship Amphib Buy, Saving Estimated $1B: Lawmaker

Under a multi-ship buy, also called a “block buy,” the Navy and industry agree on the prices of multiple ships years in advance and within the same contractual agreement. For the Navy, this results in price savings by purchasing material orders in bulk. For industry, these deals provide the scheduling stability shipbuilder executives frequently and publicly ask lawmakers and the Defense Department to provide.

Tom Rivers, a senior civilian at Naval Sea Systems Command overseeing the shipbuilding programs, told reporters the majority of the estimated $901 million in savings would come from purchasing the materials in bulk, also called economic order quantities, for the three LPDs.

Breaking Defense reported in August that one of the biggest challenges facing HII’s Mississippi shipyard right now is the ability to ramp up its labor force in the event it receives additional work. Rivers said today’s contracts include incentives to help HII do just that.

“Labor is a big issue for all of our ships shipyards right now across the country,” he said. “Within the contract, we looked at what we think the labor projections are going to be for the next decade because these ships will be built through the 2030s. We included different incentives in the contract to help out Ingalls to not only hire new people, but retain the force they have today and to train them.”

This deal in particular has been a long time coming. Lawmakers have repeatedly urged the Navy to secure a block buy for amphibious ships given the Marine Corps’ urgent need for more of those vessels, as well as the service’s success in carrying out a similar acquisition in 2019 for two aircraft carriers.

“We greatly appreciate the stability that this award provides to all Ingalls shipbuilders and our surrounding communities. It is an honor to continue our support of the joint Navy and Marine Corps mission to meet the minimum 31 amphibious ship requirement,” said Kari Wilkinson, president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, in a statement released following the Navy’s announcement.

“We stand ready to reinforce an already strong team of capable shipbuilders with the ideas and skills of new shipbuilders that want to make a difference in the world. There is no greater sense of accomplishment than doing something difficult in support of our nation’s military,” she continued.

To date, Ingalls has delivered 13 San Antonio-class ships and 15 large-deck amphibious ships.