"Austal in line to build more combat ships"
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
By KAIJA WILKINSON Business Reporter
"...Late Monday, the Navy asked that each submit bids on five LCS with the intention of giving three to the winning contractor and two to the rival team. The Navy plans to award one contract to each team by January, according to Navy spokesman Lt. Clay Doss. The remaining vessels will be awarded in 2010, he said...
Austal has avoided job cuts thus far, but natural attrition has reduced employment at the Mobile River shipyard to about 900 people, according to Austal. That compares to a peak of about 1,200 last year, when Austal was building both its LCS prototype and a large passenger-vehicle ferry.
Austal also expects to learn within days whether it emerges the winner among three teams vying to build up to 10 military transport vessels known as Joint High Speed Vessels, or JHSV..."
It is interesting that the Bush DoD is clearly trying to lock in the LCS program and make it more appealing. These "contracts" don't mean anything unless they are funded by the new Congress and the next Administration. Same goes for JHSV. There are only 2 more LCS funded by Congress and only 1 more JHSV funded by Congress for the foreseeable future. These Rumsfeld inspired "contracts" are now just an effort to obligate the next Administration and Congress. At a minimum, economic events in the next couple of years will overtake that, even if the Obama Transition may not be paying attention to all of this.
Aloha, Brad
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