Navy Picks 3 Finalists; Northrop Is Cut

Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co. and General Dynamics Corp. will compete to design a new class of Navy vessels capable of fighting in shallow waters and performing diverse missions, the Pentagon said Thursday.

The U.S. Navy cut Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp., the nation’s largest military shipbuilder, Textron Inc. and Titan Corp. from the competition.

Lockheed and Raytheon each got contracts worth $10 million and General Dynamics won a contract for $8.9 million to refine their designs for the littoral combat ship, or LCS. The Navy early next year will select one or two companies to complete the design and then build the first two vessels.

“The three companies are vying for a continued presence in future Navy shipbuilding,” said Stuart Slade, senior naval analyst for Forecast International, a Newtown, Conn., defense market analysis firm.

The Navy has earmarked $4 billion through fiscal 2009 to research, develop and build the first nine LCS ships. The first ship enters construction in fiscal 2005 with delivery in 2007. The designated missions, now assigned to individual vessels, include anti-submarine, anti-mine and anti-ship warfare.

The LCS program allows “other companies to enter a market dominated by Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics,” Slade said.

Raytheon offered the “most radical design,” Slade said, essentially an air-cushioned hull of composite material in a catamaran design based on a Norwegian navy vessel built by Umoe Mandall.