Huntington Ingalls receives contract from US Coast Guard

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a $486m fixed-price incentive contract from the US Coast Guard to build a ninth National Security Cutter.

NSCs will be the flagship of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, and are designed and developed to replace the 12 Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters, which entered service during the 1960s.

Ingalls Shipbuilding president Brian Cuccias said: “With the experience and knowledge our shipbuilders bring to this program, I am confident NSC 9 will be another great ship and continue the great success on this program.

“These ships remain in high demand by our Coast Guard customer, and we look forward to delivering another quality NSC to help them accomplish their vital homeland security missions.”

The ship building company revealed that upto now, it has delivered six NSCs and has two more under construction –  Kimball (WMSL 756) and Midgett (WMSL 757), which will be delivered in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Ingalls NSC program manager Derek Murphy said: “We are extremely proud of the quality of the NSCs we’ve built for the US Coast Guard.

“As we continue to be the sole builder in this class, the benefits of serial production are apparent: technologically advanced, dependable ships that are built at cost and on schedule.”

Legend-Class NSC are the flagships of the USCG. The company claimed NSCs are the most technologically advanced ships in the Coast Guard’s fleet, with capabilities for maritime homeland security, law enforcement and national security missions.

NSCs are 418ft long and have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 120.