Coast Guard taps Ingalls Shipbuilding for new cutter

PASCAGOULA, Miss., April 1 (UPI) -- An eighth National Security Cutter is to be built for the U.S. Coast Guard by Huntington Ingalls Industries' Shipbuilding division, the company announced.

The future cutter, the Midgett (WMSL 757), is expected to be delivered to the Coast Guard in 2019 under a fixed-price incentive contract worth $499.8 million.

"We are performing extremely well in this (cutter) program, proving the point that serial production is the most efficient and effective way to build complex military ships," said Jim French, Ingalls' National Security Cutter program manager. "We continue to fold in learning for each ship we build, and the three under construction right now are tracking well because of this knowledge."

Ingalls has already completed four National Security Cutters for the Coast Guard and three more are currently under construction. The James (WMSL 754), Munro (WMSL 755) and Kimball (WMSL 756) will be delivered in 2015, 2016 and 2018, respectively. National Security Cutters are replacing Hamilton-class vessels which first entered service in the 1960s. NSCs are 418 feet long, have a 54-foot beam and displace 4,500 tons with a full load.

The top speed of Legend-class NSCs is 28 knots. Range for the ships is 12,000 miles.