BAE SYSTEMS PLAYS MAJOR ROLE ON GENERAL DYNAMICS TEAM FOR THE U.S. NAVY'S LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP PRELIMINARY DESIGN AWARD

BAE SYSTEMS will play a critical role in the design and development of the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as a major subcontractor and teammate to General Dynamics. Last month, the Navy awarded the General Dynamics team an $8.9 million contract to develop a preliminary design for LCS.

Focusing on affordability, LCS will provide the Navy with the capability to defeat swarm boats, mines, diesel submarines and multiple other missions. Besides BAE SYSTEMS, the General Dynamics team includes Austal, USA and Austal, Australia; CAE of Canada; and Maritime Applied Physics Corporation of Annapolis, Md.

BAE SYSTEMS Technology Solutions Sector is leading the company's effort on the program, working with multiple business units from the U.S. and U.K. BAE SYSTEMS will leverage its naval platform experience to enhance the team's trimaran concept based upon Austal's innovative, high-speed commercial ship design.

"This program is perfectly matched to the capabilities that BAE SYSTEMS can leverage from its worldwide reach and expertise in support of the General Dynamics' team,� explained Andrew Kirksey, vice president and general manager, Technology Solutions Surface Warfare business unit.

The flexibility, speed, endurance, volume, seakeeping, payload capacity, and manoeuvring characteristics of the trimaran concept, coupled with modular mission packages and other modifications to address military-specific requirements, provide an optimal solution for the Navy's LCS requirements. These same characteristics make the team's trimaran design applicable to a wide variety of other domestic and international navy, coastal defence, and high-speed logistics support programmes.