Huntington Ingalls Industries, based in Pascagoula, Mississippi, recently announced a significant development in its shipbuilding division. The company secured a third contract modification from the U.S. Navy, valued at $145 million, to provide essential long-lead-time materials and advance procurement activities for the LHΑ 9 amphibious assault ship. With this modification, the total advance funding for LHΑ 9 now reaches $350 million. The contracting activity responsible for this arrangement is the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., under contract N00024-20-C-2437.
Ingalls is a renowned builder of large-deck amphibious ships for the Navy. The shipyard’s history traces back to the delivery of its first amphibious assault ship, the Iwo Jima-class USS Tripoli (LPH 10), in 1966. Over the years, Ingalls has constructed five Tarawa-class (LHA 1) ships, eight Wasp-class (LHD 1) ships, and the first ship in a new class of amphibious assault ships, the America-class USS America (LHA 6), in 2014. The second ship in that class, USS Tripoli (LHA 7), was delivered earlier this year, while USS Bougainville (LHA 8) remains under construction.
The scope of work for this contract involves procuring long lead-time materials for LHΑ 9, the fourth America-class ship, and the second LHΑ(𝖱) flight 1 variant. The completion of work is expected by February 2024. The Fiscal Year 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) advance procurement funding of $145,598,728 will be obligated at the award and will not expire until the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was non-competitively procured under 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), with only one responsible source identified. No other supplies or services would fulfill agency requirements.
