Northrop officials say destroyer program changes ahead

PASCAGOULA, Miss.—A Northrop Grumman Ships Systems official says changes in the Navy's shipbuilding program could force the defense giant into direct competition with Bath Iron Works.

Ship Systems President Phil Dur, speaking Tuesday to a business group in Pascagoula, said depending on how the Navy changes its DD(X) destroyer program, Northrop could go from building three of the next generation warships to building all or none.

Ship Systems is scheduled to build the first three ships of the cutting-edge class in Pascagoula, with the Bath, Maine, shipyard building two. Recent changes in the Navy's shipbuilding budget propose cutting the number of destroyers from seven to five ships, which means the Navy may reconsider its ship production plans.

A Navy spokesman said any change in production plans must be approved by the Defense Department. The spokesman said contractors were notified this past week.

Dur said the Navy has not made a formal announcement, "but there are very, very strong hints that we're going to move from a sole source collaborative strategy to a competition for the production of the ship."

"I think it's still being reviewed, the pros and cons," he said. "I think that given that you have a smaller buy, the pressure is on to control costs and if you've got a small buy, one of the ways to control costs is (that) you go to a single source rather than trying to go to a dual source."

Dur said he expects the requests for proposals for DD(X) to go out in the next nine months, adding there could be a five-month delay before the contract is awarded.

"Frankly, we just have to get about tightening up our arguments on why we are America's shipyard and why we can do the best job for the Navy in building out this new class of ships and the ships that will follow," he said.

Northrop Grumman Ship Systems is Mississippi's largest private employer, with more than 12,000 workers. The company builds ships for the Navy and Coast Guard and has shipyards in Gulfport and New Orleans.

One advantage, Dur said, is the company's Gulfport composite operations, which is building the DD(X) superstructure and deckhouse.

With the Gulfport operations experience in composites combined with Northrop Grumman's experience building the B-2 Bomber, he said, "we feel very good about our ability to build a deckhouse to the specifications the Navy needs."

Comparing the long range potential of DD(X) to the Spruance class destroyers of the 1970s, which led to the development of the Ticonderoga class cruisers and the Arleigh Burke destroyers, Dur envisioned the evolution of the DD(X) to CG(X), the cruiser variation of the 21st Century warship family.

"At the end of the day, this ship (DD(X)) is really a transformational move in the Navy's capabilities and it will be the seed bed for the future," he said.

What Ship Systems proposes, he said, is using the DD(X) configuration, removing its forward guns and replacing them with missile tubes to give the cruiser ballistic missile defense capabilities.

"This cruiser will have what we call three dimensions of ballistic missile defense," Dur said. "And we can do it in the same hull, with the same propulsion unit that we use for DD(X), which is a new breakthrough for the Navy, because it means they don't have to go through the competition and redesign for the hull."

This does not bode well for BIW in Maine. BIW is a vital part of the long-term defense infrastructure, and a vital part of the Maine economy.

If Bath Iron Works is giving Americans the best bang for our terrorism fighting bucks, then Maine's economy has nothing to fear.

2 posted on 02/23/2005 9:53:59 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)

As a Northrop Grumman employee it's obvious to whom I would like to see the contract awarded. However, I worry that a narrow focus on such a huge, revolutionary ship design will be a mistake.

The USA needs multiple corporations' input, the ensuing competition for contract segments, and resulting business growth for most. They can and do go together.

We have the best Navy and to keep it we need to avoid these near-sighted decisions. Fund the whole project!!!

"If Bath Iron Works is giving Americans the best bang for our terrorism fighting bucks, then Maine's economy has nothing to fear."

Well, when you're at sea, and find yourself taken under fire, would you rather be in the best, or the one made by the lowest bidder?

"would you rather be in the best, or the one made by the lowest bidder?"

In my limited personal experience, the lowest bidder typically has the best quality...because he's the guy who figured out how to do it right the first time, rather than having lots of re-work.

When you get something right the first time, you tend to be cheaper than someone who takes a couple of builds, inspections, and work-overs.

So I suspect that BIW will have no problem beating their competition.

6 posted on 02/23/2005 1:34:17 PM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)

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