Wicker applauds Navy contract award to Mississippi shipbuilder

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) applauded the U.S. Navy’s $2.4 billion fixed-price-incentive contract award to a shipbuilding company in Mississippi that will deliver an amphibious assault ship.

Ingalls Shipbuilding — the Pascagoula, Miss., arm of HII, a global, all-domain defense partner — will design and construct the LHA 9. The award includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $3.2 billion. 

“This is excellent news for both the fine shipbuilders at Ingalls and the future of our fleet, and most importantly our national security,” said Sen. Wicker, who serves on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. “Amphibious assault ships provide a critical capability to our Navy and Marines and they are a vital deterrent against China.

“We will need to keep this momentum going as we work to expand our Navy and keep our country safe in the decades ahead,” added Sen. Wicker.

His home-state colleague U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), also commended the contract. 

“The talented shipbuilders at Ingalls continue to make impressive headway in their mission to build the next generation of Navy ships,” she said. “This modification to the latest contract will ensure Ingalls has what it needs to finish construction of this amphibious assault ship and provide the Navy with another highly effective warship.”

The LHA 9’s large deck provides a substantial surface assault capability, allowing the ship to potentially host aircraft such as the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter and MV-22 Osprey, according to Ingalls, which said construction on the LHA 9 is scheduled to begin in December.