Lockheed Martin positions to win shipbuilding deal

In a move to strengthen its chances of winning one of the Navy's biggest shipbuilding contracts, Lockheed Martin Tuesday announced formation of a team that includes one of the nation's most experienced ship design firms and two shipyards with proven ability to produce smaller vessels at low cost.

The new team for the Navy's ambitious Littoral Combat Ship program include: Gibbs & Cox, a naval architect and engineer firm that has designed many of the Navy's warships for 70 years; and Bollinger Shipyards and Marinette Marine, both of which have built dozens of small to mid-size Navy and Coast Guard vessels, while specializing in commercial work.

The Navy envisions the LCS as an unusual vessel designed to operate in the dangerous coastal waters off hostile nations. It is intended to be relatively small, fast, stealthy and able to perform a wide variety of missions by adding different "mission modules" to the basic hull form.

The Navy expects to award contracts to build two competing prototypes early next year and have ships in the fleet by 2007. The ships are expected to cost about $200 million each-one-fifth the price of current surface warships-have very small crews and be able to sail at close to 50 knots-20 knots faster than current destroyers.