U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., today welcomed the award of a $70.8 million U.S. Navy contract to Huntington Ingalls to purchase long-lead-time materials in advance of construction of LHA 9, an America-class amphibious assault ship.

The latest award is the seventh increment of long-lead-time material for the ship, which will be built in Pascagoula.

“Huntington Ingalls and its talented shipbuilders continue to work hard on behalf of our Sailors and Marines to build the next generation of Navy ships,” Wicker said. “I am glad to see Ingalls receive the funding it needs to continue building LHA 9 and ensuring our Navy remains the best in the world.”

“Long-lead-time contracts allow the Navy to get more bang for the buck by being able to plan in advance for new ship construction. These successive contracts mean our Mississippi shipbuilders will have the materials needed to proceed with construction of this new amphibious assault ship,” Hyde-Smith said.

Wicker and Hyde-Smith praised a $113.6 million contract awarded in November for the LHA 9, which is also funded through $500 million in FY2021 appropriations approved by Congress for advanced procurement of the LHA 9 amphibious assault ship. Work associated with this contract is expected to be completed by April 2024.

The America-class amphibious assault ships are designed to deliver a Marine Expeditionary Unit using rotary lift and fixed wing aircraft, functioning in many ways like a smaller aircraft carrier.