BATH, Maine — The U.S. Navy has awarded Bath Iron Works and competitor Ingalls Shipbuilding a joint contract to work on the preliminary design of the Navy's next-generation destroyer, the DDG(X).
BIW and Ingalls, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, are the only shipyards building Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers for the Navy.
In announcing the contract, the DOD declined to reveal the amount of the contract award, citing "source-selection sensitive information."
The Senate Armed Services Committee and the Navy are pushing to have BIW and Ingalls work together to build the DDG(X), USNI News reported.
“Bath Iron Works is eager to bring our cutting edge engineering and design expertise, now applied to the DDG 51 program, to the next generation of large surface combatants,” BIW President Chuck Krugh said in a release. “The opportunity to work alongside HII and our industry partners to meet the Navy’s needs for capability, schedule, and cost will result in synergies that build on other extremely successful Navy construction programs.”
The two shipyards began working together in March 2021 on the DDG(X), BIW said.
Work is expected to be completed by July 2023, although if all contract options are exercised, work will continue through July 2028, according to the announcement.