UNITED STATES - 31 March 2009
The consortium led by Lockheed Martin, of which Fincantieri is a member, has been awarded an order by the US Navy to build USS Fort Worth, named after the town in Texas. This further vessel in the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program will be built by Fincantieri Marine Group at the shipyard of Marinette Marine Corporation (Marinette, Wisconsin) which delivered the first ship in the program, the USS Freedom, in September 2008.
The order has been financed by the allocation by the US Congress of 1 billion dollars for two LCS ships which will be purchased by the US Navy in 2009.
The overall program provides for the construction of 55 LCS ships for the US Navy which will be built by the two competing consortia led by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics - within 2020. Within September 2010 the next three vessels will be allocated, two of which to the winning consortium.
LCS are medium sized ships which are 115 metres long and have a beam of 13metres. Displacement at full load is 3,000 tonnes and the vessels can reach speeds of over 40 knots thanks to a combined diesel/turbogas propulsion system. The ships have a single platform with three combat modules (surface, mine-hunting, anti-submarine), a large flight deck and a hangar for two helicopters. The hull has been developed from the design drawn up by Fincantieri for the fast monohull the Destriero (the vessel which won the prestige award The Blue Ribbon, crossing the Atlantic at the exceptional average speed of 53 knots, reaching peaks of 70 knots).
LCS are cutting edge, highly innovative vessels which will be deployed in missions to counter asymmetric threats from potential terrorist attacks. In addition it will also be possible to deploy these ships in a wide range of tasks such as support operations, humanitarian missions, patrolling and surveillance.
Given their flexible nature many foreign Navies have expressed great interest in purchasing vessels of this type.
Fincantieri Marine Group was recently set up by Fincantieri in the USA in conjunction with Lockheed Martin Corporation as a minority shareholder, following the acquisition of four shipyards in the area of the Great Lakes: Marinette Marine, Bay Shipbuilding, Cleveland Shiprepair, Ace Marine.
Commenting on the order the Chief Executive Officer of Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono, said: This first order confirms the strategic importance of our decision to be present in the US market. In times such as these, with a serious world crisis in which all merchant shipbuilding is suffering from a drastic reduction in orders, it is crucial to have a more important position in the naval sector. Business diversification, one of our companys strengths, is the best response to the current downturn in demand from ship owners.
Source: Fincantieri
The consortium led by Lockheed Martin, of which Fincantieri is a member, has been awarded an order by the US Navy to build USS Fort Worth, named after the town in Texas. This further vessel in the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program will be built by Fincantieri Marine Group at the shipyard of Marinette Marine Corporation (Marinette, Wisconsin) which delivered the first ship in the program, the USS Freedom, in September 2008.
The order has been financed by the allocation by the US Congress of 1 billion dollars for two LCS ships which will be purchased by the US Navy in 2009.
The overall program provides for the construction of 55 LCS ships for the US Navy which will be built by the two competing consortia led by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics - within 2020. Within September 2010 the next three vessels will be allocated, two of which to the winning consortium.
LCS are medium sized ships which are 115 metres long and have a beam of 13metres. Displacement at full load is 3,000 tonnes and the vessels can reach speeds of over 40 knots thanks to a combined diesel/turbogas propulsion system. The ships have a single platform with three combat modules (surface, mine-hunting, anti-submarine), a large flight deck and a hangar for two helicopters. The hull has been developed from the design drawn up by Fincantieri for the fast monohull the Destriero (the vessel which won the prestige award The Blue Ribbon, crossing the Atlantic at the exceptional average speed of 53 knots, reaching peaks of 70 knots).
LCS are cutting edge, highly innovative vessels which will be deployed in missions to counter asymmetric threats from potential terrorist attacks. In addition it will also be possible to deploy these ships in a wide range of tasks such as support operations, humanitarian missions, patrolling and surveillance.
Given their flexible nature many foreign Navies have expressed great interest in purchasing vessels of this type.
Fincantieri Marine Group was recently set up by Fincantieri in the USA in conjunction with Lockheed Martin Corporation as a minority shareholder, following the acquisition of four shipyards in the area of the Great Lakes: Marinette Marine, Bay Shipbuilding, Cleveland Shiprepair, Ace Marine.
Commenting on the order the Chief Executive Officer of Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono, said: This first order confirms the strategic importance of our decision to be present in the US market. In times such as these, with a serious world crisis in which all merchant shipbuilding is suffering from a drastic reduction in orders, it is crucial to have a more important position in the naval sector. Business diversification, one of our companys strengths, is the best response to the current downturn in demand from ship owners.
Source: Fincantieri
