3 Firms Seek $20-Billion Navy Contract

Three major Pentagon contractors--Woodland Hills-based Litton Industries Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics Corp.--are jointly seeking a contract to build the Navy’s next-generation of combat ships, a contract that may exceed $20 billion. Two of the leading builders of surface ships, Pascagoula, Miss.-based Ingalls Shipbuilding, a unit of Litton Industries, and Bath, Maine-based Bath Iron Works, a unit of General Dynamics, are teaming with Lockheed Martin’s Government Electronic Systems unit in Moorestown, N.J., to seek contracts to build more than 30 destroyers and cruisers over 15 years beginning in 2001. “The skill mix is very complementary,” said Robert Stangarone, a spokesman for Litton. “Each team member will take the lead in its area of expertise.” Based on current Navy plans, the contracts for what is being called the DD 21/SC 21 program will be doled out in three phases, Litton said in a statement. The Navy will award contracts for trade studies and design to as many as three competing teams next year. Contracts for the initial system design will be awarded to two teams in 1999. A contract for the detailed design, with an option for building the first ship, will be awarded to just one team in 2001.