Navy Issues Stop Work Order for Littoral Combat Ship 3

[GAP]

Navy Issues Stop Work Order for Littoral Combat Ship 3 Announced
Article Link

            The Navy has issued a stop work order today to Lockheed Martin Corp. Maritime Systems & Sensors unit, Moorestown, N.J., for the construction of the third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). This stop work order will take effect immediately and is for a period of 90 days.

            The stop work order was issued because of significant cost increases currently being experienced with the construction of LCS-1 and LCS-3, under construction by Lockheed Martin.

            “I determined that at this point in time it was critical to stop work on LCS-3 to assess the LCS program and ensure we understand the program’s cost and management processes before we move forward. It is essential that we complete LCS 1 and get it to sea so we can evaluate this new ship design” said Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter.

            The Navy is working closely with the contractor to identify the root cause of the costs growth. The Navy is reviewing the overall acquisition strategy for the LCS program and is working closely with the contractors to keep this program on track.

            The contract for LCS-3 was awarded June 26, 2006, for $197.6 million, and the ship is being constructed at Bollinger Shipyard, Lockport, La.

            "The Littoral Combat Ship program remains of critical importance to our Navy. With its great speed and interchangeable warfighting modules, the ship will provide unprecedented flexibility, allowing us to combat almost any specific threat -- from enemy mines to submarines to even pirates. It will help us defend our nation not just in the deep blue, but up close in the coastal regions of the world where our enemies like to hide and where so many of our friends and partners strive to prosper," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen.
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

Navy to restructure troubled Littoral Combat Ship program
By DALE EISMAN, The Virginian-Pilot,  March 16
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=121202&ran=91383

The Navy plans to slow and restructure its troubled Littoral Combat Ship program, shifting more than $500 million appropriated last year for the purchase of two ships to help offset cost overruns on four others.

Navy Secretary Donald Winter, who in January issued a 90-day stop-work order on one of four ships under contract, said construction of that ship will resume only if builder Lockheed Martin Corp. agrees to assume responsibility for a larger share of price increases.

Throughout 2006, Navy leaders insisted that the four ships would cost about $220 million each. But officials acknowledged this month that the price of Lockheed Martin's LCS-1, to be delivered later this year, could top $375 million - about 70 percent more than the target.

Lockheed Martin is building the first and third ships in the LCS series; General Dynamics is under contract for LCS-2 and LCS-4. LCS-3 is the ship covered by the stop-work order.

Winter said he hopes to strike a deal with Lockheed Martin before the stop-work order expires April 12.

The two builders are using different designs, but Winter said Thursday that the Navy will shift to a single design for Littoral Combat Ship purchases beginning in 2010. The Lockheed Martin design is a sleek monohull while the General Dynamics ship is a trimaran.

Navy leaders hope to buy 55 such ships by 2016 and to make them the workhorses of the U.S. fleet. Designed to travel at high speeds and operate in shallow water, the ships are to be outfitted with special "mission modules" that can be installed and removed rapidly to allow them to take on a variety of war-fighting duties...

More:

"The USA's New Littoral Combat Ships"
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/10/the-usas-new-littoral-combat-ships-updated/index.php

"Littoral Combat Ship Program"
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/lcs-program.htm

Mark
Ottawa