Lockheed Martin-Marinette Marine and Austal USA have officially agreed to extend their price guarantees for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) until December 30, giving Congress more time to pass legislation approving the US Navy’s dual-block buy plan, according the service.
“The US Navy has asked for and received from Lockheed Martin and Austal a limited extension on the prices submitted under the current LCS solicitation,” Navy spokeswoman Captain Cate Mueller wrote in an email.
“The extension provides time to process the LCS contract award if Congress provides authorisation for the dual block buy or in the event that we proceed to a downselect to one company.
LCS price drop under dual buy
With the prices from both competing contractors in the LCS program in hand, the US Navy believes that each ship in the class would cost less than any of the existing estimates under the dual-block-buy strategy, according to a letter that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) sent to Senator John McCain (R-AZ), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
A chart in the CBO document comparing various price estimates shows that the US Navy is planning for an average ship cost of US$490 million.