Weapons Buyer News

U.S. WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy hopes to smooth out the impact on Lockheed Martin Corp and Australia's Austal of a budget-driven decision to order three Littoral Combat Ships instead of four in fiscal year 2015, the Navy's top weapons buyer said on Thursday. The Navy had planned to buy two of each of the different small warships built by Lockheed and Austal in fiscal 2015 and 2016, but it scaled back those orders to three ships a year as a result of budget cuts mandated by Congress. Assistant Navy Secretary Sean Stackley told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee's seapower subcommittee that Navy officials would now meet with both companies…

(Reuters) - The Pentagon on Wednesday rejected for now a Navy plan under which Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. would compete for, rather than split, a potential $20 billion contract to build a new class of guided missile destroyer. The action dovetails with moves in Congress aimed at blocking a winner-take-all approach, which the Navy has said could trim $300 million from the cost of each DD(X) destroyer. Any change to the existing production-sharing strategy "is premature at this time," Michael Wynne, the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer, said in a Defense Department statement. Wynne authorized the Navy to seek additional input from Los Angeles-based Northrop and Falls Church, Virginia-based General Dynamics on any future change in acquisition strategy.

The Austal-built WestPac Express has been re-chartered by the U.S. Navy for a further period of up to 55 months (commencing on the expiry of thecurrent charter in February 2007) in which it will continue to support the operations of the US Marine Corps’ Third Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) in the Western Pacific theatre. Originally described as a Theatre Support Vessel (TSV), WestPac Express is now more commonly referred to as a High Speed Connector (HSC), and was first chartered to the III MEF in July 2001 for a proof of concept period. This was the first time the US military had contracted a commercial vessel of this type for military support.

Newport News Shipbuilding Inc. said Wednesday its board voted to back the $2.1 billion takeover offer from defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. over a rival bid from Northrop Grumman Corp. Newport News, maker of nuclear-powered warships, said its board voted unanimously to recommend General Dynamics' all-cash offer of $67.50 per share after determining it did not have enough information on the views of federal regulators and defense officials to take a position on the Northrop bid. Newport, based in Newport News, Va., also noted its board believes the General Dynamics' deal gives stockholders the opportunity to receive better and more certain value than they would receive under Northrop's cash and stock offer. "We will seek to determine the position of the U.S.