Bath Iron Works Awarded Second Flight III Destroyer In Two Ship Contract Modification

September 28, 2017 9:28 PM
An artist’s conception of the AMDR AN/SPY-6(v) radar onboard an Arleigh Burke Flight III guided missile destroyer (DDG-51). Raytheon Image

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works was awarded a two destroyer deal that would include the construction of the second planned Flight III Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer (DDG-51) for the Navy, according to a Thursday Pentagon contract announcement.

The contract will include the Flight III configuration with the Raytheon-built SPY-6 air and missile defense radar on the unnamed DDG-126 and DDG-127 will be built in a Flight IIA configuration.

“DDG-126 was awarded under the contract that was part of a multi-year competition for DDG 51-class destroyers in 2013. DDG-127 was approved by Congress under separate legislation,” read a statement from General Dynamics.
The Navy did not release the costs of the contract modification.

“As the Navy expects to release a competitive solicitation for additional DDG 51 class ships in the Flight III configuration in future years, the contract award amount is considered source selection sensitive information,” read the announcement.

Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Angus King (I-Maine) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) praised the award in a combined statement on Thursday.

“These contracts to construct two new DDG-51 class destroyers in Bath demonstrates the Navy’s commitment to BIW and its confidence in the highly skilled, hard-working employees at the shipyard,” the trio said.

However, King and Collins have expressed concern over maturity of the Flight III design in the last several months.

In addition to the SPY-6, the changes to the design will increase the power available on the ship by three Rolls Royce 3-megawatt generators on the Flight IIA ships with Rolls Royce’s 4-megawatt generator in the same footprint on the ship.

The electrical grid on the ship will also be upgraded from the 450-volt configuration to a 4,160-volt grid that will lead to additional design changes.

In June, Huntington Ingalls Industries was awarded the first Flight III hull after more than a year of negotiation with the service.

The following is the complete contract Sept. 28, 2017 award announcement.

 

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is being awarded a fixed-price-incentive-firm target modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-13-C-2305) for incorporation of the Flight III baseline on DDG 126 and award of one fiscal 2016 ship (DDG 127) in the Flight IIA configuration. Flight III will incorporate the SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) and upgrade the electrical power and cooling capacity plus additional associated changes. The fiscal 2016 ship was appropriated by Congress in the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 114-113). As the Navy expects to release a competitive solicitation for additional DDG 51 class ships in the Flight III configuration in future years, the contract award amount is considered source selection sensitive information (see 41 U.S. Code 2101, et seq., Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 2.101 and FAR 3.104) and will not be made public at this time. Work for DDG 126 and 127 will be performed in Bath, Maine (62 percent); Walpole, Massachusetts (5 percent); Cincinnati, Ohio (5 percent); Coatesville, Pennsylvania (2 percent); York, Pennsylvania (2 percent); South Portland, Maine (1 percent); Falls Church, Virginia (1 percent); and other locations below 1 percent (collectively totaling 22 percent), and is scheduled to complete in fiscal 2024. Fiscal 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

 

Sam LaGrone

Sam LaGrone

Sam LaGrone is the editor of USNI News. He has covered legislation, acquisition and operations for the Sea Services since 2009 and spent time underway with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the Canadian Navy.
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