Gibbs & Cox press release
(Reston, Va.) March 3, 2022 – Gibbs & Cox, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leidos has been awarded a contract to provide Surface Combatant Ship Design Engineering Services in support of Future Surface Combatant Programs by the U.S. Navy. The award has a potential value of $318,742,913 with performance through 2027, if all options are exercised.
The Gibbs & Cox team will provide services supporting future surface combatants design, with initial focus on the Program Executive Office Ship’s DDG(X) Program Office (PMS 460) industry engagement, DDG(X) design development, and technology integration efforts.
“As a key member of the original DDG 51 class design team, we are proud to continue our legacy of support to this cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s capability,” said Gibbs & Cox chief operating officer Ray Sheldon.
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Naval News comments:
We interviewed Rear Admiral Fred Pyle, the U.S. Navy’s Director of Surface Warfare (OPNAV N96) during the Surface Navy Association (SNA) 2023 national symposium held last month. Asked about the key drivers for the DDG(X) program, RADM Pyle replied:
So there’s really there’s really two key components of the DDG(X) that I would consider drivers. First is Arleigh Burke class destroyer. Very successful platform, for nearly 40 years. We have a SWPC issue: Space weight, power cooling. The margin for that capability is no longer there. We need DDG(X) to have a margin for that space, weight, power and cooling. The warfighting imperative for DDG(X) gives us the opportunity to get to a larger missile launcher, increase our capacity of weapons, deliver Long Range Strike hypersonic weapons, and increase directed energy weapons that we have on board as well as gross sensors such as SPY-6 to pace the threat going into the next decade and beyond.
As regards the timeframe for delivering DDG(X), “We’re going to start moving out on that effort at the end of the decade/beginning of the next decade,” RADM Pyle told the SNA symposium.
