HII and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries sign MoU to explore shipbuilding collaboration
The Memorandum of Understanding focused on speeding up naval shipbuilding and production in both companies.
USS Independence at sea in April 2019. (Photo: USN/Chief Mass Communication Specialist Shannon Renfroe)
Wärtsilä Defense has received an IDIQ contract worth up to $76.28 million from the US Naval Surface Warfare Center, to repair waterjet and shaft assemblies on Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs).
‘Work will be completed at the contractor’s facility in Chesapeake, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by July 2027. The contract will have a 60-month ordering period,’ the DoD noted on 28 July.
Fitted with two LM2500 gas turbines and two MTU Series 8000 diesel engines, as well as two LJ160E and two LJ150E waterjets, the trimaran Independence-class design can reach a top speed of 44kt with a range of 4,300 nautical miles.
The Memorandum of Understanding focused on speeding up naval shipbuilding and production in both companies.
SSN-797 was commissioned as USS Iowa, the first Virginia-class submarine of the second Trump administration. It was described as “just the beginning” of a revitalisation of US naval shipbuilding by Secretary of the Navy John Phelan.
MK72 is a crucial capability for the SM-3 interceptors and the Aegis BMD system.
The critical design review puts the vessels on course to be fully upgraded by the end of 2030.
The vessel, made under the auspices of the country’s National Shipbuilding Strategy, will be the first heavy icebreaker built in Canada for over six decades.
The two new frigates are expected to enter service by 2030.