The US Navy released a pre-solicitation announcement on Friday stating that it plans to award Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, a solicitation contract for San Antonio-class Flight II ships LPD 33 to 35.
According to the announcement, the solicitation will cover the procurement of Long Lead Time Material (LLTM) for LPD 33 to 35, as well as Detail Design and Construction (DD&C). Ingalls Shipbuilding is currently the sole shipyard that still produces the LPD-17 San Antonio-class Flight II Amphibious Transport Dock Ships, following the closure of the Avondale Shipyard in 2014.
In spite of the announcement, defense officials confirmed to USNI News that the Navy is still upholding its “strategic pause” on buying Amphibious ships. According to the Navy’s statement to USNI News, the notice was related to FY2023 NDAA language that instructed the service to look into a multi-ship buy for amphibious ships.
Recent events surrounding the Flight II ships have recently led to major disagreements between the US Marine Corps, Navy, and Congress. The US Navy originally sought to purchase 13 Flight II ships under the LX(R) program. These ships were to complement and then eventually replace the current fleet of aging Whidbey Island-class and Harpers Ferry-class ships.
In FY2023, the US Navy requested funds for completing the LPD 32 and proposed truncating the LPD-17 Flight II line after the LPD 32. However, the US Marine Corps did not agree with the US Navy on the issue and requested $250 million for Advanced Procurement (AP) funds for the LPD 33. The US Marine Corps considered AP funding for the vessel its top unfunded priority item, ahead of the F-35. Congress, which has largely been in agreement with the US Marine Corps, funded the vessel.
In its FY2024 budget request, the US Navy once more did not include any Flight II ships nor did it plan to procure any such ships for the coming five years. US Navy officials later stated that the service was conducting a strategic pause and would not request any ships during that period. Following the release of the US Navy’s FY2024 30-year shipbuilding plan. The report stated that the service was conducting an Amphibious Ship study that will inform its PB2025 submission.
Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, stated that the US Navy and Office of Secretary of Defense will carry out the aforementioned study to reassess the US Navy’s Amphibious ship force level requirements and potential options for reducing the cost of the Flight II ships.
All this is further exacerbated by the Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plans which have continually called for divesting more LSD-41/49 ships. The former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger has repeatedly stated the dangers of both divesting older ships while a pause is in place. “Assuming our present trajectory, we will fall below the congressionally mandated floor of 31 amphibious warfare ships. From my perspective, this is a result of divesting these platforms faster than we are procuring their replacements..” said Berger in a statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee in April this year.
In the FY2024 NDAA, both chambers passed bills that added LPD 33 into the shipbuilding account. Furthermore, the Senate bill also requires the Navy to submit a shipbuilding plan demonstrating how the service will adhere to the minimum 31 amphibious ship requirement. For now, such legislation seems necessary to nudge the Navy back on track to continue buying more Flight II ships in the coming years. It, however, remains to be seen whether or not this will prove effective in the long run.
