The US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries a $936 million contract modification for the construction of a third fiscal year 2020 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.
According to a Pentagon contract announcement, the award is for the construction of the future Thad Cochran (DDG 135).
The June 29 award comes after the navy announced a ten-ship contract to Huntington Ingalls Industries and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (GDBIW) in 2018. The navy had planned to build two per year while incorporating options for a third ship for each shipbuilder. The service only awarded a third ship to GDBIW in fiscal year 2019 prior to awarding HII the DDG 135 contract on June 29.
The latest modification also includes options for engineering change proposals, design budgeting requirements and post-delivery availabilities on the fiscal 2020 option ship. If exercised, the cumulative value of the fiscal 2020 option ship will increase to $947,695,871.
HII is expected to complete work under the contract by June 2027.
The company has has delivered 31 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the navy. It is currently working on Delbert D. Black (DDG 119), Frank E. Peterson Jr. (DDG 121), Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) and Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) and Ted Stevens (DDG 128).
Like DDG 135, DDG 125 and DDG 128 are Flight III destroyers, featuring improved capability and capacity to perform anti-air warfare and ballistic missile defense in support of the integrated air and missile defense mission. The Flight III design contains modifications to enable the SPY-6 radar, in association with Aegis Baseline 10, which includes larger electronically scanned arrays.
