LPD 17 hull as BMD platform?

Huntington Ingalls, builder of the Navy's San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, is floating the idea of continuing production of the LPD 17 hull in Pascagoula, Miss., as a platform for ballistic missile defense and other missions. Ingalls officials said at the Surface Navy Association's National Symposium Jan. 16 that they are sharing the idea of Flight II variants with Navy officials. The company is investing internal R&D money to design the variant, and is just beginning to pitch the concept to the military, said Irwin Edenzon, president of the Ingalls Shipbuilding. "We're getting some encouragement that it might be a good idea. Nobody is running out, writing us a contract or sending us money, but we are talking to people who say, 'You know this thing sounds like it might make sense to look into,'" he said. If it comes to fruition, it would keep the LPD 17 production line running following deliveries of the 11th and final San Antonio-class ship in 2017. (Sources: IHS Janes, National Defense Magazine, 01/18/13)