Huntington Ingalls Industries Wins $187M Navy Contract to Engineer Additional Amphibious Assault Ship.

Huntington Ingalls Industries has been awarded a potential $187.5M contract by the U.S. Navy for design and engineering of one America-class amphibious warfare vessel.

LHA-9 amphibious warfare ships (Picture source: US Navy)

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded an $187,469,732 not-to-exceed undefinitized contract action for long lead time material and associated engineering and design activities in support of one Amphibious Assault Ship Replacement (LHA(R)) Flight 1 Ship and LHA 9.

The company will also use the funds to obtain long-lead time materials needed to build the service branch's fourth America-class Amphibious Assault Ship Replacement and second LHA(R) Flight 1 vessel, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

The new ship class is intended to replace five decommissioned Tarawa-class LHAs, according to the Navy. The Flight 1 version will have the primary aviation characteristics of the predecessor configuration and will feature a well deck that is designed to support expeditionary warfighting missions

DoD noted the service will obligate the full contract amount from its fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion funds and that the department expects work to be complete by February 2024.

Amphibious warships are designed to support the Marine Corps tenets of Operational Maneuver From the Sea (OMFTS) and Ship to Objective Maneuver (STOM). They must be capable of sailing in harm's way and enable rapid combat power buildup ashore in the face of opposition. Because of their inherent capabilities, these ships have been and will continue to be called upon to also support humanitarian and other contingency missions on short notice. The United States maintains the largest and most capable amphibious force in the world.

LHAs are the largest of all amphibious warfare ships, resembling a small aircraft carrier. They are capable of Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL), Short Take-Off Vertical Landing (STOVL), Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) tilt-rotor and Rotary Wing (RW) aircraft operations. LHA Flight 0 will enhance Marine Corp aviation with greater maintenance capability and JP-5 fuel capacity in lieu of a well deck.LHA Flight 1 will reincorporate a well deck to enhance expeditionary warfighting capabilities while maintaining the principal aviation characteristics of the Flight 0.