Navy awards $2.2 billion for first of new class of amphibious ships

The Navy has awarded a Florida-based company a $2.2 billion contract to manage construction of the service’s newest class of amphibious landing craft, marking the first time vessels will be built under a new process intended to speed up shipbuilding.

Tote Services will oversee construction of an initial run of up to eight Medium Landing Ships for the Marine Corps, the Navy said in a news release Monday.

The first ship is slated for delivery to the Navy in fall 2029.

The ships will provide “critical littoral mobility required in contested environments,” the Navy said, alluding to a possible conflict with China that could be fought in Pacific archipelagos.

Tote will function as a vessel construction manager, a new mode in contracting intended to “maximize commercial practices to accelerate delivery, improve cost discipline, and expand the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base,” the Navy said.

Under this approach, Tote will hold the prime contract with the Navy. The company will in turn issue and manage its own subcontracts directly with shipyards.

This contracting model places the construction manager “in direct contractual control of shipyard performance and creates a buffer that, along with a proven design, is expected to reduce cost and schedule risks,” the Navy said in February in a request for proposals.

Tote will manage subcontracts with Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards for building one landing ship and with Fincantieri Marinette Marine, based in Marinette, Wis., for four more, the Navy said.

Tote will determine how best to award subcontracts for up to three additional ships, the Navy said.

Medium Landing Ships are intended to support the Marine Corps with its operational concept called expeditionary advanced base operations.

Under that concept, the service would have “reinforced-platoon-sized Marine Corps units maneuver around the theater, moving from island to island, to fire anti-ship cruise missiles,” the Congressional Research Service said in a January report.

The 328-foot-long ships would be used for “embarking, transporting, landing, and subsequently reembarking these small Marine Corps units” in those operations, the report states.

The Navy plans to homeport up to nine of the vessels at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. The Navy plans to procure 18 to 35 Medium Landing Ships.

The Congressional Budget Office in April 2024 estimated that 18 ships would cost between $6.2 billion and $7.8 billion, or $340 million to $430 million per ship, depending on ship size.

The Navy’s current amphibious ship force consists entirely of large amphibious ships with lengths between 610 and 844 feet, the report states.

“The [vessel construction management] strategy is an innovative shift in Navy shipbuilding,” Will Mahan, who is performing the duties of assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, said in the Navy’s Monday release.

Mahan touted the five-month duration between issuing a request for proposals and awarding the contract for the landing ships as being almost half the time it normally takes in traditional contracting timelines.

“The U.S. is counting on this program to succeed, and our job is clear: steward the work responsibly, cultivate the best talent and expertise, move with urgency, and deliver for the American people,” Jeff Dixon, Tote’s president, said in a company news release Monday.