WASHINGTON, March 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has announced that it was nearing a deal to transfer Joint High Speed Vessels to the U.S. Navy.
Army Gen. George Casey, chief of staff of the Army, said he was "in the final throes" of the deal with his Navy counterpart.
"I think we'll get it done before I leave," he said referring to his scheduled retirement next month. He stands to be replaced by Gen. Martin Dempsey.
With an average speed of 35 knots, the ship, commonly known by its initials JHSV is intended to move Army and U.S. Marine Corps cargo and troops within areas of military operations. It is armed with four .50-caliber machine guns and includes a flight deck for helicopter operations and an off-load ramp that can allow vehicles to quickly drive off the ship.
Featuring a shallow draft, the vessel is designed for rapid in-theater transports of troops and military hardware. The ships are being constructed in Alabama and both forces -- the Army and Navy -- are each planning to buy a fleet of 12 JHSV ships.
The program's main contractor is Alabama's Austal. It began work on the first high-speed vessel earlier this year and was recently awarded a $204.2 million contract for the construction of two more.
In February, the Pentagon said it was planning to buy 10 such vessels.
"One of the things that we have to do in the Army, especially in a period of declining resources, is we have to put our money against the things that give us the most value," Casey said. "Driving ships is not our core competency; it's the Navy's."
Austal is a subsidiary of Australia's publicly traded Austal Ltd.
Talks between the Army and Navy have been under way for months, trying to determine which of the Army's watercraft could be transferred to the Navy to take over crewing and maintenance.
In its 2012 budget request, the Pentagon allocated $416 million to buy two JHSV ships. Under the new plan, the Army ship will be crewed and operated by the Navy.
A similar deal was reached in the transfer of joint cargo aircraft and its supporting mission to the U.S. Air Force. It was a move that was introduced in April 2009, incorporated into the 2010 defense budget.
"We need the support, we don't necessarily have to fly the planes ourselves," Casey said. "Same this with the JHSV and that's what we'll work out."
