WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a Senate Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee hearing this morning, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) pressed the Navy’s top acquisition officer to fulfil the terms of a 2002 memorandum of understanding among the Navy, Bath Iron Works, and Huntington Ingalls Shipyard (formerly Northrop Grumman Ship Systems), which states that an additional award of an LPD-17 class ship would trigger the award of a DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer or equivalent workload to Bath Iron Works (BIW):

“Last May, in response to a request, the Navy stated the Navy position is that the 2002 Memorandum of Understanding – the so-called swap one agreement – remains in full force and effect and requires the Navy to award a DDG-51 or equivalent workload to BIW if the Navy awards the LPD-28 on a sole source basis,” Senator King said. “And now I understand in this budget that’s happening – the LPD-28 funds are going to be completed. Is what I just read still the position of the Navy? Because I got a response recently, just this week, that indicated you’re considering options. I trust that means you’re considering how to fulfil that, not whether or not it still exists.”

In response to Senator King, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, Sean Stackley, confirmed that the position of the Navy remains unchanged and that the 2002 Memorandum of Understanding remains in effect. He stated that the Navy is examining the state of both Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipyard, that it has had preliminary conversations with the industry, and that he believes the Navy has the time and tools available to “balance out” the agreement with both shipyards.

According to a 2002 Memorandum of Understanding agreed to by the U.S. Navy, Bath Iron Works, and Huntington Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi – which was reaffirmed by the parties in 2009 – the Navy is required to award a DDG-51 or equivalent workload to Bath Iron Works if the Navy awards an additional LPD to Ingalls. The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, passed last December by Congress, authorized partial funding for such an LPD and the Navy requested the remaining funding in the FY 2016 budget request, calling into question if and how BIW will be awarded an additional ship or other workload under the terms of the agreement. It has been Senator King’s longstanding position that the agreement remains in full force and effect.

Later in the hearing, Senator King again voiced his concern regarding the impact that sequestration would have on the country’s shipbuilding industrial base, including Bath Iron Works, noting that the impacts of budgetary decisions made today will have a profound ripple effect on our Navy in the decades to come.

The Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower today held a hearing to receive testimony on Navy shipbuilding programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2016 and the future years defense programs. Witnesses included Assistant Secretary Stackley; Commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, Vice Admiral William Hilarides; and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Integration of Capabilities and Resources, Vice Admiral Joseph Mulloy, USN.

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