By Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast Public Affairs
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast awarded a $12.5 million contract on April 28 to Harry Pepper & Associates, Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla. for the design and construction of a Littoral Warfare Systems Facility at Naval Support Activity Panama City, Fla.
The Littoral Warfare Systems Facility will be a center of excellence for research, development and integration of existing and future adaptive force packages. These modular and deployable packages will provide warfighting capability to nontraditional and unconventional maritime platforms within Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Panama City Division's global maritime partnerships.
"One of the specific programs planned for the facility includes the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mine Warfare (MIW) Mission Package," said Ray Sheffield, NSWC Panama City Division Platform Integration Branch Head in the Littoral Systems Integration Department.
The project includes a provision of a two-story facility with high bays, administrative, and sensitive compartmented information facility spaces. The structure will be a secure limited access facility.
The Littoral Warfare Systems Facility has features which will allow both in-service equipment and emerging technologies to be operated together in a laboratory environment. The facility will also have crane capabilities sufficient for LCS mission modules and laboratory space for unmanned systems.
The project is expected to be completed by November 29, 2009.