BAE Systems Land & Armaments, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is being awarded an $18,242,666 firm-fixed-priced undefinitized contract action (N00024-15-C-4103) for procurement and delivery of long lead time material in support of Virginia-class submarines Block IV propulsor system requirements.
This undefinitized contract action for procurement of long lead time material is required to support the manufacture and delivery of Virginia-class propulsors to meet critical mission requirements and in-yard-need dates for the construction of SSN 794 (name TBD) and SSN 795 (PCU Rickover).
Work will be performed in Louisville, Kentucky, and is expected to be complete by September 2016. Fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $3,574,232 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.
The Virginia class nuclear submarines have several innovations over the Los Angeles class that significantly enhance its warfighting capabilities with an emphasis on littoral operations. Virginia class SSNs have a fly-by-wire ship control system that provides improved shallow-water ship handling. The class has special features to support SOF, including a reconfigurable torpedo room which can accommodate a large number of SOF and all their equipment for prolonged deployments and future off-board payloads.
As part of the Virginia-class’ third, or Block III, contract, the Navy redesigned approximately 20 percent of the ship to reduce their acquisition costs. Most of the changes are found in the bow where the traditional, air-backed sonar sphere has been replaced with a water-backed Large Aperture Bow (LAB) array which reduces acquisition and life-cycle costs while providing enhanced passive detection capabilities.
The new bow also replaces the 12 individual Vertical Launch System (VLS) tubes with two 87-inch Virginia Payload Tubes (VPTs), each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles. The VPTs simplify construction, reduce acquisition costs, and provide for more payload flexibility than the smaller VLS tubes due to their added volume.