Ingalls Shipbuilding division has been awarded a $1.43 billion, contract to construct an LPD 29, the 13th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. When it is finished, it will be 684 feet long and 105 feet wide.
“This contract is further recognition of the confidence the Navy/Marine Corps team has in the great work our shipbuilders are doing in the LPD program,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. “This efficient work is proven through our hot production line keeping the work going in the shipyard and through our nationwide network of suppliers. We are excited to build this additional ship and in providing our sailors and Marines with the best amphibious ships in the world.”
Ingalls has built and delivered 11 San Antonio-class ships. The 11th, Portland (LPD 27), will be commissioned on April 21 in Portland, Oregon. The 12th, Fort Lauderdale, is under construction and is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2020. Preliminary work has begun on LPD 29, and the start of fabrication will take place later this year.
The San Antonio class is a major part of the Navy’s 21st-century amphibious assault force. The ships are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey.
The ships support a Marine Air Ground Task Force across the spectrum of operations, conducting amphibious and expeditionary missions of sea control and power projection to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the first half of the 21st century.
