Sparks fly as Ingalls begins fabrication of LHA 9
Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) stories that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division has began fabrication of the U.S. Navy’s latest amphibious assault ship Fallujah (LHA 9), signifying that the primary 100 tons of metal have been minimize for the ship and that the shipyard is able to transfer ahead with its building,
“The start of fabrication on Fallujah is a significant milestone in the construction of this large-deck amphibious ship and demonstrates our ability to maintain a sustained LHA production line at Ingalls,” stated Eugene Miller, Ingalls Shipbuilding LHA program supervisor.
For practically 50 years, Ingalls has constructed large-deck amphibious assault ships and has delivered 15 large-deck ships, together with the Tarawa-class, LHA 1-5; the Wasp-class, LHD 1-8; and most lately the America-class, LHA 6 and LHA 7.
The third of the America class, Bougainville (LHA 8), is at present underneath building. In October, Ingalls was awarded the $2.4 billion U.S. Navy fixed-price-incentive contract for the element design and building of Fallujah. Similarly to Bougainville, Fallujah will retain the aviation functionality of the America-class design whereas including the floor assault functionality of a nicely deck and a bigger flight deck configured for F-35B Joint Strike Fighter and MV-22 Osprey plane.
These large-deck amphibious assault ships additionally embody top-of-the-line medical amenities with full working suites and triage capabilities.
