Ingalls gets NSC contract

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Huntington Ingalls Industries said its Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a $76 million fixed-price contract from the U.S. Coast Guard to purchase long-lead materials for a sixth National Security Cutter. Construction and delivery of the yet-to-be-named WMSL 755 will be performed at the company's Pascagoula facility. A second phase of the contract, when awarded, would bring the overall value to $88 million. The cutters are 418 feet long and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 110. (Source: Globe Newswire, 03/30/12)

Sequestration threatens LCS

The Pentagon would expect hundreds of thousands of layoffs across the defense industry if lawmakers don't avert an additional $500 billion in defense budget cuts that could take effect in January 2013. Frank Kendall, the Defense Department's acting undersecretary for acquisition, said the cuts would force the Pentagon to break many contracts, including the Navy's contracts with Lockheed Martin and Austal USA for littoral combat ships. (Source: Reuters, 03/29/12)

HII marks first year

Huntington Ingalls Industries marked its first year of operations after its spinoff from Northrop Grumman, with CEO Mike Petters ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. Huntington Ingalls has two sectors: a Newport News facility in Virginia and Ingalls Shipbuilding on the Gulf Coast, which oversees the Pascagoula, Miss., yard, a composite yard in Gulfport, Miss., and an Avondale, La., yard that will close next year. The Pascagoula yard warships for the Navy and Coast Guard and is one of the state's largest private employers. HII finished four ships, started construction on two, received new construction contracts on three and is at the halfway point on structural work for the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford. (Sources: Sun Herald, 03/29/12, Mississippi Press, 03/30/12)

Contract: General Dynamics, $27M

General Dynamics Information Technology, Herndon, Va., is being awarded a $27,091,748 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for information technology engineering and mission sustainment services in support of the commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, Stennis Space Center, Miss. Sixty percent of the work will be done at SSC. Other sites are Monterey, Calif. (20 percent); Washington, D.C. (10 percent); San Diego, Calif. (8 percent); and Bahrain, Saudi Arabia (2 percent). Work is expected to be completed by April 1, 2013. The NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg, Pa., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/29/12)

DDG-1000 completes key test

The future USS Zumwalt completed a major developmental test Tuesday, demonstrating the integration of the engineering control system software and the ship's integrated power system, the Naval Sea Systems Command announced Thursday. The test marks the completion of the second of two developmental tests. The ship is now 67 percent complete and will be delivered in 2014. The ship is built by Bath Iron Works in Maine, but Ingalls Shipbuilding's composite center in Gulfport, Miss., builds composite deckhouse and hangars for the ship, and the Pascagoula yard builds steel units that support the composite deliveries and the aft peripheral vertical launch system ship sections. (Source: Mississippi Press, 03/23/12)

Austal wins safety award

MOBILE, Ala. -- Shipbuilder Austal USA has earned the Award for Excellence in Safety from the Shipbuilders Council of America, a national trade association of the shipbuilding industry. Notice of the award, the fourth in a row for Austal, was announced by the company in a news release on Thursday. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 03/22/12) Austal USA builds littoral combat ships and joint high-speed vessels for the U.S. military.

Robot to robot refueling tested

WASHINGTON -- The Naval Research Laboratory successfully demonstrated the robotic fluids transfer from a stationary platform to an unmanned surface vehicle in wave heights greater than three feet. The Rapid Autonomous Fuel Transfer project was able to track the motion of a Sea Fox naval vessel, emplace a magnetic refueling fitting to an on-board receptacle and complete fluids transfer. The testing was done at the Army Aberdeen Test Center wave simulator facility. Further robotic transfer tests may include land-based autonomous vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicle. (Source: NRL via Business Wire, 03/20/12) Gulf Coast note: This region is heavily involved in unmanned systems, including aerial and maritime, and is a major shipbuilding region; the NRL has an operation at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Engineers design UxV controllers

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division scientists and engineers have designed unmanned system controllers for a younger generation of sailor raised on video-game systems. The latest proof-of-concept uses an Xbox Kinect to deliver gesture-based robotic controls. It's been demonstrated as a viable interface for human-machine interaction with omni-directional vehicles. Gesture-based robot control and similar approaches that utilize "human-centric" interaction with unmanned-systems opens a door to the future of effective human-robot teams in which communication is natural, reducing training requirements. (Source: NNS, 03/16/12)

Navy orders four LCSs

Contracts for four more Littoral Combat Ships were awarded Friday by the Navy, bringing the total of LCS vessels under order or in service to 12. Lockheed Martin received $715 million for two ships and Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., received $691.6 million for two ships. In Mobile, the award will fund the shipyard's fifth and sixth LCSs. The vessels, meant for minesweeping, submarine-hunting, anti-piracy efforts and special forces operations, represent the third funding increment to be awarded under a 10-ship, $3.8 billion deal that Austal secured in December 2010. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, Navy Times, 03/16/12)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $20M

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $20,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract exercising an option for integration, installation, and testing of the Aegis combat system on DDG 51-class ships. The tasks to be accomplished include planning, technical data package development, test procedure development, test engineering, installation engineering, and combat system test engineering. Work will be performed in Moorestown, N.J. (37 percent); Bath, Maine (25 percent); Pascagoula, Miss. (22 percent); San Diego (6 percent); Washington, D.C. (5 percent); Norfolk, Va. (3 percent); Port Hueneme, Calif. (1 percent); and Syracuse, N.Y. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2012. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/16/12)

Contract: Austal USA, $19.7M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a $19,692,295 modification to previously awarded contract to exercise options for special studies, analyses, review and class service efforts for the Littoral Combat Ship program. This effort will assess engineering and production challenges and evaluate the cost and schedule risks from affordability efforts to reduce LCS acquisition and lifecycle costs. Work will be performed in Mobile, Ala. (72 percent) and Pittsfield, Mass. (28 percent). Work is expected to be complete by March 2013. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/14/12)

Mine-sweep system overhauled

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- ITT Exelis has completed its first overhaul of a mine-sweeping system for the U.S. Navy. The Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, Fla., awarded this sole-source indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract in 2009, which has a potential value of $49 million. The refurbishment extends the life of this MK-105 Mod 4 Airborne Mine Countermeasure Influence Sweep unit for another 10 years. (Source: ITT Excelis via Business Wire, 03/12/12)

Shipyards finish repairs

MOBILE, Ala. -- BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards and Austal USA finished a four-month repair and maintenance job on a Navy research vessel. The companies in November announced they were teaming up to work on the Sea Fighter, an experimental vessel based out of Panama City, Fla., an aluminum catamaran that the Office of Naval Research uses to test technologies it will use on its littoral combat ships and joint high-speed vessels. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, MarineLink, 03/08/12)

Signet tugs perform tow

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The Noble Max Smith rig that’s been under repair at Signal International's west shipyard was moved Monday by the newest of Signet Maritime's tug fleet. The Signet Constellation and the Signet Stars & Stripes were used along with the tugs Daniel Colle, Natalie Colle and John Colle for the rig tow to Signal's east yard on Bayou Casotte. In addition, a 5,000 horsepower, $13 million tug built by Signet at the Pascagoula yard, the Signet Weatherly, left this week for a 520-mile trip to Ingleside, Texas. (Source: Mississippi Press, 03/06/12)

Fire-fighting robot planned

A robot designed to fight shipboard fires will be tested aboard the ex-USS Shadwell in Mobile, Ala., in late September 2013. Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory formed a team to develop a humanoid robot that could fight fires on the next generation of combat ships. The robot, the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot or SAFFiR, is designed to interact with people and perform tasks normally performed by humans. It will be equipped with a variety of sensors to let it see through smoke, and will also have fire suppressors and extinguishing agents on its upper torso. It will be able to walk in all directions, balance in sea conditions and traverse obstacles. It will also be capable of making its own decisions and respond to gestures as part of the fire-fighting team. The former Shadwell is a unique fire test ship, where full-scale fire and damage control tests are conducted in a realistic ship environment. (Source: Business Wire, 03/07/12)

Details of commissioning coming

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Gov. Phil Bryant will be in town Monday for a news conference to formally announce details of the commissioning of the USS Mississippi in Pascagoula in June. Mayor Robbie Maxwell said the attack submarine will carry the state's name all over the world. Jerry St. Pe, former Ingalls Shipbuilding president and chairman of the Host City Committee, said about 5,000 people are expected to attend the commissioning. The Navy pays for the ceremony, while donations pay for receptions, gifts and special celebrations. The fundraising effort by the USS Mississippi Commissioning Committee will be discussed at Monday's press conference. (Source: Mississippi Press, 03/01/12)