BMT press release
The Industry Studies address technical solutions and design tradeoffs, provide recommendations to improve producibility and affordability, and include technical reviews of the Navy’s evolving ship design. BMT is the Prime Contractor partnered with Philly Shipyard.
The contract is a key step in the recapitalization of the Navy’s ocean surveillance capabilities as the existing T-AGOS ships reach the end of their service life. T-AGOS capabilities emphasize gathering and processing of undersea acoustic data, which is crucial to tracking submarines. The unique SWATH (small waterplane area twin-hull) hull form offers high stability at slow speeds and in adverse weather conditions.
BMT’s portfolio includes multiple SWATH and semi-SWATH hull forms, including the U.S. Navy’s SEA FIGHTER (FSF-1), used as a testbed for advanced ship design and innovation. BMT’s ModCat™ semi-SWATH hull form has also been employed in ocean-going ferries and more recently in offshore wind farm support vessels (WFSVs).
“This vessel class and the operational capability it contains form an important element of our nation’s maritime strategy,” said Kai Skvarla, President of BMT’s U.S. defense business. “The project is an exciting engineering and design opportunity that will be rewarding for the BMT design team.”
Following the industry studies effort, a separate T-AGOS(X) Lead ship Detail Design and Construction (DD&C) contract award is planned in FY22, with ship delivery scheduled for FY25.