LHA-8 would be built at Ingalls

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Nov. 9 that the next amphibious assault ship would be named after Bougainville Island in the Solomons, the location of a strategic WWII battle. The future Bougainville (LHA-8) will be the third America-class ship and the first Flight 1 design that reintroduces a well deck for surface connector operations. The future Bougainville is expected to be bought in the FY 2017-18 budgets. It will be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., and should be delivered in 2024. USS America (LHA-6) – also built at Ingalls - has no well deck and instead devotes a massive amount of internal space for aviation maintenance, storage and support for more aircraft and for the larger next-generation aircraft such as the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter and MV-22 Osprey. The Bougainville will strike a middle ground, maintaining that emphasis on aviation while adding back a small well through reductions in medical and other spaces. (Source: USNI News 11/09/16)