Shipbuilders set course to FFG(X)

A multi-billion dollar opportunity has foreign and U.S. competition heating up to build the Navy’s FFG(X) warship. In February, the Navy announced it had shortlisted five shipbuilders for the program: Huntington Ingalls of Pascagoula, Miss.; Austal USA of Mobile, Ala.; Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Fincantieri. The FFG(X) is to replace the Littoral Combat Ship. The five were awarded research-and-development (R&D) contracts this year. The Navy expects to pick a single winner in 2020. Fincantieri is an Italian manufacturer. Austal USA is a subsidiary of an Australian shipbuilder. The competition would be a major long-term opportunity for a single primary contractor. The Navy plans to stop buying LCS, and wants to start buying the new frigates in 2020, which leaves little time for R&D. The plan is to buy 20 frigates (one or two a year) at an estimated cost of up to $900M apiece. The Navy expects to spend between $850M to $1.8B annually from 2020-23, according to the Congressional Research Service. To start buying ships by 2020, the Navy is asking for something that’s already been produced and demonstrated. The short-listers are generally pitching souped-up versions of ships now in service. Austal USA is one of two LCS shipbuilders. It is pitching a modified version of its earlier product, something that may offer the Navy an easier transition between systems. (Source: Washington Post 06/04/18)