Zumwalt: Testbed or more?

Is the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer a science project testbed or a technologically advanced destroyer needed by the fleet? That's the issue raised in a story in Aviation Week, which points out that the answer depends on who is asked. The ship being built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine is using a lot of new technologies, including a hybrid drive, composite deckhouse and new guns, and construction is running ahead of schedule. (Source: Aviation Week, 12/28/11) Gulf Coast note: Ingalls Shipbuilding's Composites Center of Excellence in Gulfport, Miss., is building the Zumwalt's integrated composite deckhouse, helicopter hangars and parts of the ship's peripheral vertical launch systems.

Ingalls, subcontractors cited

Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., and five subcontractors have been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 50 safety and health violations. OSHA proposed a penalty of $176,444. Violations included blocked exits, tripping and fall hazards and more. The companies have up to 15 business days to appeal the citations. The inspection resulted from a complaint made in June. (Sources: multiple, including Sun Herald, Mississippi Press, 12/28/11)

Navy gets nod for ferries

The Navy received approval to spend up to $35 million to buy both Austal USA-built super ferries from the U.S. Maritime Administration, according to published reports. The Huakai and Alakia, both built in Mobile, Ala., will be transferred to the Navy if the bill is signed by the president. The ferries were originally built to transport people and goods around the Hawaiian islands. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, Virginian Pilot, 12/23/11) Previous post

Shipbuilder adding 500 workers

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- Eastern Shipbuilding Group is adding 500 new jobs to fill two new contracts. The company needs to extra worker because of two contracts to build 13 supply vessels. One is for Brazil's Boldini S.A., and the other for Hornbeck Offshore. Eastern Shipbuilding is one of the largest employers in Bay County. (Source: Panama City News Herald, 12/20/11)

Contract: Austal Chartering, $8.2M

Austal Hull 130 Chartering LLC, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded an $8,225,850 fixed-price contract for the worldwide charter of one U.S.-flagged passenger/cargo ferry. The ferry will support the Marine Corps Third Marine Expeditionary Force. This contract includes three six-month option periods, which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to $30,321,200. Work will be performed at sea in the Far East, and is expected to be completed by August 2012; with options exercised, by January 2014. This contract was competitively procured via Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities websites, with three offers received. Commander, Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/21/11)

Contract: Alion, $73.2M

Alion Science and Technology, Burr Ridge, Ill, has been awarded a $73,238,387 not-to-exceed letter contract for professional support services in support of surface warfare fleet support. This contract is a bridge contract intended to continue professional support services in support of surface warfare fleet support during the interim between the expiration of current, competitively awarded, SEAPORT-e contract and the award of a follow-on, competitively awarded SEAPORT-e contract. Work is expected to be performed in Washington, D.C. (56 percent); Norfolk, Va. (23 percent); San Diego, Calif. (6 percent); Pascagoula, Miss. (6 percent); Bath, Maine (3 percent); Mayport, Fla. (2 percent); Japan (2 percent) and other locations less than 1 percent (2 percent) and is expected to be completed by November 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $22,911,792 will be provided at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/20/11)

LPD 22 delivered to Navy

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Huntington Ingalls Industries delivered the company's sixth amphibious transport dock, San Diego (LPD 22), to the Navy at a brief ceremony at Ingalls Shipbuilding Monday. The ship recently completed acceptance sea trials with the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey observing. Ingalls' test and trials team tested the ship's main propulsion, steering, communications suite and deck missions systems. Some of the crew members were aboard for acceptance trials; the full crew will move aboard the ship the first week of January. The 684-foot long LPD 22 is scheduled to be commissioned in the spring of 2012 in San Diego. Its principal mission is to deploy the combat and support elements of Marine Expeditionary Units and Brigades. (Source: Huntington Ingalls, 12/19/11)

Contract: Austal USA, $7.9M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a $7,917,425 modification to previously awarded contract to exercise an option for core Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class services for the LCS program. Austal USA will assess engineering, baseline, and configuration management services in support of the basic construction, post delivery, test and trials phases of the LCS class. Work will be performed in Mobile, Ala. (30 percent); Pittsfield, Mass. (30 percent); Malvern, Pa. (20 percent); Newport News, Va. (13 percent); and various locations of less than two percent each, totaling (7 percent). Work is expected to be completed by December 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/19/11)

Training academy gets Barbour name

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- A maritime training facility being built at Ingalls Shipbuilding will be named after Gov. Haley Barbour. Work on the 76,000-square-foot Haley Reeves Barbour Maritime Training Academy could begin as early as January and completed in 18 months. The academy, funded through a Hurricane Katrina community development block grant, is meant to provide a skilled workforce and help Ingalls expand its two- to four-year apprentice program to about 1,000 students. (Source: Mississippi Press, 12/16/11)

Mobile ranked 34 on Milken list

Mobile, Ala., is ranked 34, Pensacola, Fla., 73, and New Orleans 101 in the 2011 Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities Index of 200 large metro areas. All three moved up in the index, designed to show performance of 379 large and small metro areas in creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth, including technology growth. Mobile last year was 59, Pensacola 116 and New Orleans 123. In the list of 179 small metro areas, Pascagoula, Miss., is ranked 40, Panama City, Fla., is 73, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., is 75, and Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., 79. Gulfport's ranking is an improvement over last year's 101 ranking. Pascagoula, Panama City and Fort Walton Beach dropped from 26, 49 and 73, respectively. The Gulf Coast is a major shipbuilding region. (Source: Tcp, 12/15/11) Milken data link

South Miss hotspot for defense jobs

A new report ranks South Mississippi as one of the top five less-known regions in the country for defense jobs. The report released Tuesday by ClearanceJobs.com said defense spending, notably in shipbuilding and aerospace, helped rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina. The report said South Mississippi has jobs for rocket scientists, oceanographers, cyber-security personnel, geospatial analysts, technical trainers and test engineers. South Mississippi is home to NASA's Stennis Space Center, and the Navy is a big tenant. It's also home to the Navy Seabees, Keesler Air Force Base and major shipbuilding activities. Detroit, Omaha, Neb., Seattle, and Mohawk Valley in upstate New York also were named in the top five. (Source: Sun Herald, PRNewswire, 12/13/11)

BAE to provide DDG comm system

ST. INIGOES, Md. -- BAE Systems received a $37 million contract to design, install and test onboard radio communications and network capability for the U.S. Navy's new DDG 113 and DDG 114 destroyers, both being built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. The installed technology will include multi-spectrum radio sets, antenna systems and baseband switching, as well as data-link modems and message distribution services. BAE Systems has provided onboard communications for 62 destroyers and 27 cruisers equipped with the Aegis combat system. Work will be done primarily at Navy facilities in St. Inigoes and at nearby BAE Systems offices. (Source: BAE Systems, 12/08/11)

Undersea robots get smarter

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Underwater robots that can make their own decisions? According to the Office of Naval Research, scientists have successfully transitioned fundamental research in autonomy to undersea gliders, demonstrating in sea tests in the Pacific how the new software can help robots become smarter at surveying large swaths of ocean. "Using the new algorithms, the vehicle has a greater ability to make its own decisions without requiring a human in the loop," said Marc Steinberg, program officer for ONR's Adaptive Networks for Threat and Intrusion Detection or Termination. With plans to deploy squadrons of air, surface and undersea robotic vehicles later this decade, the Navy is investing in basic research programs to improve autonomous system capabilities. (Source: NNS, 12/02/11) Gulf Coast note: The Naval Oceanographic Office at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., operates a fleet of underwater vehicles; the ONR's Naval Research Lab has a detachment at SSC.

Funding sought for Ingalls facility

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Jackson County Supervisors agreed to make a proposal to the Mississippi Development Authority for up to $20 million for a test facility at Ingalls Shipbuilding. If the state likes the proposal, it will invite a full-funding application. The multimillion-dollar facility would be built on the west bank of the shipyard and would be used for pre-installation assembly, integration and testing of ship components and equipment. (Source: Mississippi Press, 11/06/11)

Training facility moves forward

Work on a multimillion-dollar maritime training facility could begin in January. The Board of Supervisors and Port Authority's Board of Commissioners are expected to pass a joint resolution Monday to award a $15.6 million construction contract to Mobile, Ala.-based Ben M. Radcliff Contractor Inc. The 76,000-square-foot facility on Ingalls property will take 18 months to build. The project, funded through a Hurricane Katrina community development block grant, will help Ingalls expand its two- to four-year apprentice program to about 1,000 students. (Source: Mississippi Press, 12/04/11)

Contract: Huntington Ingalls, $46M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $46,079,303 contract modification to previously awarded contract to procure long lead time material and related support for DDG 1002 products construction. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss. (28 percent); Benicia, Calif. (24 percent); Burns Harbor, Ind. (10 percent); Corona, Calif. (9 percent); Monroe, Conn. (4 percent); Deerpark, Texas (3 percent); Patterson, N.J. (3 percent); and other various locations with less than 1 percent of the total (19 percent). Work is expected to complete by March 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/02/11)

Ingalls to cut 500 positions

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Ingalls Shipbuilding plans to reduce its workforce by 500 people, the company said. Ingalls announced a "a voluntary reduction-in-force offer" will be made to non-union employees in Pascagoula. Jobs would include engineers or those who work in the human resources or finance department, among others. The company blamed it on cost pressures in anticipation of declining shipbuilding budgets. (Source: Sun Herald, 12/02/11)

Sub to be christened Saturday

The attack submarine USS Mississippi will be christened Saturday in a ceremony at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., the Navy said. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will deliver the principal address. The ship, the fifth to be named after the state, is scheduled to be commissioned in Gulfport, Miss., June 2, 2012. (Source: Sun Herald, 12/02/11)

Contract extension OKd

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Union workers at Ingalls shipyard Thursday voted to extend their current labor contract for three years. Workers will get a $1,000 bonus before Christmas and three raises over the next three years. They also will have to shoulder higher health care costs, which will be increased by increments, over the next three years. The contract applies to the Pascagoula and Gulfport yards as well as Avondale, La. (Source: Sun Herald, 12/01/11)