General Dynamics NASSCO, located in San Diego, CA, has been awarded a $744 million contract with the U.S. Navy to build two 765 foot auxiliary Mobile Landing Platform (MPL) ships. This is fortunate news for the ship building company, NASSCO, which had been planning a major employee layoff if their construction contracts had not received a boost such as this one.
Upon receiving the 744 million dollar contract, NASSCO assured that they would be able to start cutting steel for the two MPL ships immediately and estimated to complete one of the ships in 2013 and the other in 2015. NASSCO is hoping to also receive a future contract with the Navy to construct another Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) vessel, totaling to three, which would result in a $1.3 billion pier-at-sea contract.
The term “pier-at-sea” is relative to the new MLP ships that will allow supplies, equipment, and other goods to be unloaded from other ships and then taken to the shore. This will provide the U.S. military with accurate information for rapid crisis response and alter the Maritime Prepositioning Force that will be able to pinpoint U.S. military forces at all times, all around the world.
The excitement over the new MLP ships will really revamp the U.S. military strategy and streamline their activities. The sea base system will give the Navy total control to track all supplies including ammunition, equipment, and even food in a sea base area that will act as a pier and supply ships in need from a complete dock station anywhere in the oceans. These ships will be the future of the U.S. Navy and their innovative prospective goals.
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