HII, Navy talk new BMD ship

The Navy has been in discussions with Pascagoula, Miss.-based shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries about a new missile defense variant of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock (LPD-17). The new vessel could eventually be equipped with new radars, railguns and lasers. The troop carrier has the size and margins for that type of heavy-weight mission, industry officials claim. “You can put a lot of additional weight (and) some modern technologies, like ballistic missile defense radars,” HII VP Brian Cuccias told National Defense Magazine. If built, the ship would be the largest surface combatant for the Navy since WWII. (Source: The National Interest 01/15/16)