All DDG 1000 Construction Moves to Bath
An agreement has been reached between the U.S. Navy and its top two shipbuilders to shift all construction of a new class of destroyer to only one of the shipyards.
The agreement means all three DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers will be built at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard at Bath, Maine. Northrop Grumman, which at one time was the lead yard on the DDG 1000 program, will instead receive construction contracts for more DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to be built at its Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.
According to one source familiar with the negotiations, Northrop also would become the lead yard for the restart of the DDG 51 program and become the planning yard for future development of the design. The Bath shipyard currently is the lead yard for the DDG 51 program. That element of the agreement, however, couldn't be quickly confirmed by Defense News, and the Navy declined to provide details of the agreement.
Northrop also would continue to build the composite-structure deckhouse for all the Zumwalt-class ships at its facility in Gulfport, Miss.
Confirmation of the agreement between the parties came in a press release on the afternoon of April 7 from Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., influential chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower subcommittee, whose district includes the Ingalls shipyard.
"I think Northrop Grumman made the right decision. They will continue to build the world's most capable destroyer at a fair price," Taylor said in the statement. "By agreeing to the DDG 1000-DDG 51 swap, Northrop Grumman is aligned with where the Navy sees its future."
The Navy and its shipbuilders have been in negotiations over the swap since last fall. Northrop, which in addition to destroyers builds Coast Guard cutters and three classes of amphibious ships at the Ingalls shipyard, has had production problems with several of its programs. The Bath yard is building only DDG 51-class destroyers and is eager to build the DDG 1000s. Most observers felt the proposed swap was a reasonable reallocation of resources that would benefit both shipyards and provide the Navy with cost savings.
Northrop, wary of giving up too much, held out for more favorable terms, which apparently have been agreed to.
"No shipyard would accept a deal that was unpalatable," said the source familiar with the negotiations. "It had to work for everybody."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, during an April 6 press conference to discuss numerous program changes, singled out the shipyard negotiations.
New destroyer construction, he said, was contingent on the shipyards "being able to work out contracts with the Navy to efficiently build all three DDG 1000-class ships at Bath Iron Works in Maine and to smoothly restart the DDG 51" program in Mississippi.
Gates added that the DDG 1000 program would end with the third ship regardless of any agreement and that DDG 51 construction would continue at both shipyards.
But Gates threatened further cuts to the program if an agreement couldn't be reached.
"If our efforts with industry are unsuccessful, the department will likely build only a single prototype DDG 1000 at Bath and then review our options for restarting production of the DDG 51."
Ironically, the agreement comes four years after then-Navy acquisition chief John Young's proposed "winner-take-all" single shipyard restructuring proposal came under withering fire from Congress, which decried the loss of work at either shipyard. Congress, with strong bipartisan support from both houses, opposed the move and forced the Navy to support construction at both yards.
As in 2005, Congressional approval will be necessary to complete the new agreement.
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