WLOX-TV Biloxi
Ingalls awarded additional $107M for new amphibious assault ship
The modification brings the current contract for the LHA9 to $457 million.
By Lindsay Knowles
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WLOX) - Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula has received a fourth contract modification from the U.S. Navy for $107 million for materials to build the amphibious assault ship LHA 9.
This modification brings the total advance funding for LHA 9 to $457 million. The addition of $107 million to that contract will be used to provide long-lead-time material and advance procurement activities for the LHA 9.
“The amphibious warship production line is a critical component of our nation’s defense industrial base,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. “This funding will strengthen our suppliers and sustain jobs across the country in support of LHA 9 construction.”
Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith praised the Navy’s decision to award the contract to the Pascagoula shipyard.
“The talented shipbuilders at Ingalls build some of the world’s finest ships for our U.S. Navy fleet,” Wicker said. “This new award is a down payment on the construction of LHA 9, the third of a new generation of amphibious assault ships that will enhance our Sailors’ and Marines’ ability to project power around the globe.”
”Utilizing advanced appropriations funding to procure long-lead-time materials for the LHA 9 allows Ingalls shipbuilders to work undeterred in our effort to provide the Navy with the ships it needs,” said Hyde-Smith, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I’m pleased to see this contract issued now as we begin the FY2022 process of funding future shipbuilding needs.”
The America-class amphibious assault ships are designed to deliver a Marine Expeditionary Unit using rotary lift and fixed wing aircraft, functioning in many ways like a smaller aircraft carrier.
Ingalls is the sole builder of large-deck amphibious ships for the Navy. The shipyard delivered its first amphibious assault ship, the Iwo Jima-class USS Tripoli (LPH 10), in 1966. Ingalls has since built five Tarawa-class (LHA 1) ships, eight Wasp-class (LHD 1) ships and the first in the new America class of amphibious assault ships (LHA 6) in 2014. The second ship in the America class, USS Tripoli (LHA 7), was delivered to the Navy in early 2020. Bougainville (LHA 8) is under construction.
With 11,500 employees, Ingalls is the largest manufacturing employer in Mississippi. Huntington Ingalls Industries is also America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry.