HII lands $2.4B contract for Navy’s next amphibious warship

Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc.’s Mississippi-based Ingalls Shipbuilding has received a $2.4 billion contract modification for the construction of the Navy’s fourth American-class amphibious assault ship (LHA 9), according to the Department of Defense.

The fixed-price incentive contract includes options that could bring the cumulative value of the contract to $3.2 billion if exercised. Work is expected to be complete by September 2029, though if all options are exercised, it will continue through March 2031, the defense department said.

Construction of LHA 9 is expected to begin in December. Ingalls received the original long-lead-time material contract for LHA 9 in April 2020.

“Ingalls shipbuilders are ready to build the Navy’s newest LHA,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said in a statement. “We understand how important this work is, and consider it an honor to be given the opportunity to deliver this capability to the fleet. We value our partnership with the Navy and all of our critical supplier partners.”

Ingalls, a division of Newport News-based HII, has previously delivered 15 large-deck amphibious ships, including the Tarawa and Wasp classes. The first and second ships in the America class, the flagship USS America and USS Tripoli were commissioned by the Navy in 2014 and 2020, respectively. The third in the class, USS Bougainville, is currently under construction at Ingalls.

LHA 9 is expected to feature a larger flight deck configured to accommodate the F-23B Lightning II, the Marine Corps’ variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, and the MV-22 Osprey aircraft.