Alion Science and Technology won a contract to support the Navy’s
Amphibious Warfare Program Office in their efforts to satisfy both current and future Navy/Marine Corps needs for Amphibious Warfare. Alion’s efforts include supporting the acquisition and production of the Navy's LHA (R) class and their next generation connector, Ship to Shore Connector (SSC). Alion will also support the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) of their current Connector, the Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC). The award, a delivery order under the NAVSEA SeaPort Enhanced (SeaPort-e) contract, has a potential value of $169.7 million over five years. The base year value is approximately $26.1 million.
The Navy’s Amphibious Ship’s and connectors are core to meeting the USMC’s mission to embark, land and support Marine expeditionary forces for extended periods of time. The LHA (Replacement), or LHA (R), class will replace the LHA 1 Tarawa class, which is nearing the end of its service life. USS America (LHA 6) will be the first ship of the LHA(R) program.
“The Navy’ s shipbuilding program offices continue their drive toward reducing cost and maintaining production schedules in a very challenging fiscal environment. Alion continues to innovate across the full spectrum of acquisition services to help the Navy achieve its goals of improved cost and schedule reliability," said Vice Adm. Scott Fry (USN, Ret.), Alion Sector Senior Vice President and Manager of the Engineering and Integration Solutions Sector.
As the next generation "big-deck" amphibious ship, LHA 6 will be optimized for aviation, capable of supporting current and future aircraft such as the tilt-rotor MV 22 and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). LHA 6 will be 844 feet in length, and will have an impressive displacement of approximately 44,971 long tons. The LCAC is a high-speed, fully
amphibious landing craft capable of carrying a 60-75 ton payload. The LCAC was first deployed in 1982 and will be replaced by the SSC, which has an increased payload, starting in 2018.
Work will be performed primarily in the Washington, D.C., Boston, MA, and Pascagoula MS areas.
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