BATH
Bath Iron Works has secured another contract.
The Navy announced Friday that BIW was awarded $14.95 million to create a concept design for its new class of guided missile frigate.
The Navy is looking to purchase up to 20 of the yet unnamed FFG(X), with the first frigate to be procured in fiscal year 2020.
The frigate, which is smaller than the destroyers that have become the shipyard’s bread and butter, is meant to supplement the Navy’s undersea and surface warfare needs, and to support large surface combatants, according to a statement from Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.
BIW was one of five contractors chosen to submit concept designs, including Austal USA of Alabama, Huntington Ingalls of Mississippi, Lockheed Martin of Baltimore and Fincantieri Marinette Marine of Wisconsin.
The Navy will use the solicited concept designs to develop the final specifications for the FFG(X). The concept designs for the FFG(X) must be based on an existing frigate that has been through production and demonstrated at sea in order to reduce cost and delays. BIW has stated that its design will be built on a hull used by Navantia, a shipyard in Spain.
The contract is expected to be completed in 2019 and includes options that could raise the total value of the award to $22.9 million.
Maine’s congressional delegation welcomed the announcement and the possibility of increased work in the shipyard’s future.
“Every day, the hardworking men and women at BIW prove that Bath built is best built,” U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, IMaine, said in a joint statement. “The design contract awarded today reflects the Navy’s confidence in the ability of BIW’s skilled employees to deliver high-quality ships that are essential to our national security.”
“The contract to create a conceptual design for the FFG(X) is a huge opportunity for BIW that could lead to enough work to keep the shipyard busy for years,” Pingree stated in a press release. “I’m glad BIW will have the chance to show yet again the skills and expertise that we have here in Maine. I have no doubt that the shipyard’s design will be a strong one and highly competitive in this process.”
One of five
• BATH IRON WORKS was one of five contractors chosen to submit concept designs, including Austal USA of Alabama, Huntington Ingalls of Mississippi, Lockheed Martin of Baltimore and Fincantieri Marinette Marine of Wisconsin.
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