On Friday, April 12, HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding division authenticated the keel of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29). Ship's Co-sponsors Shana McCool and Kate Oja declared the keel to be "truly and fairly laid."

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced last week that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a $1.47 billion, fixed-price incentive contract from the U.S. Navy for the detail design and construction of the amphibious transport dock LPD 30. The ship will be the 14th in the San Antonio class and the first Flight II LPD.

The US Navy's next generation LPD 17 Flight II Class amphibious transport dock ships are moving forward in Main Propulsion Diesel Engine (MPDE) efficiency by installing the common rail fuel injection system on the ship's Pielstick-Colt 2.5V Sequentially Turbocharged (STC) engine.