U.S. Navy To Build Both LCS Designs
November 3, 2010

The long-awaited decision on which competitor would win the U.S. Navy's littoral combat ship (LCS) competition is expected to be revealed this afternoon, and the answer will surprise most people.

The winner? Both teams.

Sources told Defense News that the Navy, rather than selecting one team to build 10 ships, will instead award construction contracts to both Lockheed Martin and Austal USA to build 10 of their ships, for a total of 20 new LCS ships.

One source said the ships will continue to be built with separate combat systems, rather than go through a time-consuming effort to install a common system on all the ships.

The Navy has made no official announcement on the LCS program, and declined this afternoon to do so.

"I have nothing for you on that," said Cmdr. Danny Hernandez, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon.

Another program decision that could not be immediately confirmed is that the new ships would be based on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, a change from the current plan to initially base all LCS ships at San Diego.

Each team already has delivered one ship and is at work on another. Lockheed's ships are built in Wisconsin by Marinette Marine, a subsidiary of the Italian shipbuilding giant Fincantieri. Austal USA, a subsidiary of the Australian Austal firm which specializes in aluminum high-speed craft, builds its ships in Mobile, Ala.

Each of the shipbuilding programs is looked on locally as a major job provider and source of income.