T-AKE Lewis and Clark Program

The T-AKE program utilizes a two-phase acquisition process. Phase I consisted of multiple competitively awarded contracts to conduct ship/cargo systems integration design studies. The intent of these contracts was to develop innovative integrated ship concepts with life cycle cost improvements by encouraging traditional builders of Navy ships to involve materials handling firms in system development. Contracts were awarded to Avondale Industries, Friede Goldman Halter (formerly Halter Marine), Ingalls Shipbuilding, and National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO).

The solicitation for Phase II of the program, Detail Design and Ship Construction, closed September 29, 2000 with a contract expected to be awarded in early calendar year 2001.

The Phase II contract for Detail Design and Construction of up to 14 T-AKEs was awarded to NASSCO, a General Dynamics company, on 18 October 2001. On 18 October 2001 National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. was awarded a $406,883,256 fixed-price-incentive (firm targets) contract for the detailed design and construction of the lead ship of the auxiliary cargo and ammunition ship class. Concurrent with contract award, the Navy exercised an option for the detailed design and construction of the first follow ship in the amount of $301,636,200. The contract also provided for spare and repair parts, special studies and analyses, engineering and industrial services and technical data. The contract had 10 remaining options for follow ships which, if exercised, would bring the total cumulative contract value to $3,751,044,824. Work would be performed in San Diego, Calif. (75.7%); Iron Mountain, Mich. (9.3%); Waynesboro, Va. (3.9%); Philadelphia, Penn. (3.5%); Beloit, Wis. (3%); Belle Chasse, La. (1.8%); Kingsford, Mich. (1.8%); Scarborough, Maine (0.5%); and Willis, Texas (0.5%), and is expected to be completed by September 2005.

If all 12 ships of the T-AKE program were awarded to NASSCO, the contract would be the largest program in the company's 40-year shipbuilding history. It would provide a base of business for almost 10 years and maintain shipyard employment at least at the current 2,500-employee level.

The three-phase operational test, assessment, and evaluation strategy consisted of two operational assessments and an IOT&E for the USNS Lewis and Clark. Based on the results of the first of those assessments, the design for T-AKE 1 appeared to be sound, and the prospects for successful performance were high, according to DOT&E.

The FY2003 budget request reflected a two-year stretch-out of the program schedule, with the delivery of the first vessel slated for the year 2005, versus an initial delivery in 2003, with the final vessel slated for the year 2010, versus a final delivery in 2008. The FY02 T-AKE was reflected in the SCN Appropriation in the FY 02 Appropriations Act. Pending approval, it would be reprogrammed to National Defense Sealift Fund [NDSF] in accordance with Congressional preference that NDSF be used for combat logisitcs force ships. FY00 and FY01 ships have already been reprogrammed. Starting in FY03, the Department requests funding in NDSF.

Eight ships were under contract as of January 2005. National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, Calif., was awarded on January 30, 2006 a $317,113,310 fixed-price-incentive modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2300) to exercise an option for design and construction of the ninth ship in the Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ship (T-AKE) Class. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by May 2009.

On 23 August 2007 General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced it had reached an agreement with the US Navy for options to build up to five additional T-AKE dry cargo ammunition ships. Contracts for the ships, valued at approximately $2.5 billion if all options are exercised, were expected to be awarded over the following four years. Including the nine ships previously under contract, this agreement meant the San Diego shipyard would build a total of 14 T-AKE ships for the Navy, up from the nine envisioned originally, and the eleven planned as recently as early 2007. Since October 2001, NASSCO had received contracts to build nine T-AKE ships and delivered the first three ships of the class. The fourth T-AKE ship is scheduled to be delivered in November 2007. Under the new agreement, NASSCO would deliver the fourteenth ship in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Maritime Pre-positioned Force (Future) (MPF(F))

Beginning in FY 2009, the remaining three ships [T-AKE 12 through T-AKE 14] will be the Maritime Pre-positioned Force (Future) (MPF(F)) T-AKEs. The Navy has determined that a family of ships that meets the MPF(F) squadron requirements and leverages existing production lines and designs is the desired acquisition approach. The T-AKE configuration meets the requirements for the sustainment cargo with selective offload and complies with the acquisition approach.

T-AKE Lewis and Clark Shipbuilding

The ships in the Lewis and Clark-class bear the names of prominent American explorers and will carry with them the undaunted courage, strength and fortitude shown by their namesakes.

The Navy christened the lead ship of a new class of underway replenishment ships, the USNS Lewis and Clark, 21 May 2005, during a launching at National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), San Diego, CA. Exactly 201 years to the day after Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Capt. William Clark christened their keelboat and began their two-year journey to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase, USNS Lewis and Clark was christened in their honor. As part of the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, the ship was be designated a USNS ship. The term stands for United States Naval Ship. Unlike their United States Ship (USS) counterparts, USNS vessels are manned primarily by civilian crews working for the US Navy Military Sealift Command, Washington, DC. Estimated delivery to MSC at that time was October 2005. The lead ship USNS Lewis and Clark was delivered to the Navy in June 2006. The first of the Navy's new class of dry cargo/ammunition ships, USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1), arrived in Norfolk 08 September 2006.

Construction commenced on T-AKE 2 on September 15, 2005. USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2), the second of the new T-AKE class of cargo ammunition ships, was launched 26 May 2006. These ships incorporate new and innovative pollution prevention systems to minimize environmental effects.With MSC's official acceptance of Sacagawea on 27 February 2007, the ship became the second of the civil-service-crewed Lewis and Clark-class ships expected to join MSC's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force over the next few years. After completing sea trials and crew training in San Diego in March 2007, Sacagawea transfered to her new operating area off the Atlantic Coast for continued evaluations, to become fully operational in the fall of 2007. This ship delivered to MSC in 2007, two years later than the initially projected 2005 delivery date.

In July 2002, the Navy exercised the contract option to begin construction of a third ship, USNS Alan Shepard. NASSCO was awarded a $290 million contract for construction of the ship. The ship was to be built in San Diego, in coordination with Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair San Diego, NAVSEA's local shipyard liaison. She would be manned by government civilian mariners and operated by the Military Sealift Command.Rear Adm. Carol Pottenger, USN, commander of Military Sealift Fleet Support Command, ceremoniously struck the first welding arc to lay the keel for dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Alan Shepard 14 February 2006 in San Diego at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, or NASSCO. Shepard is the third ship in the T-AKE class and is named for Navy Rear Adm. Alan B. Shepard Jr., one of the original Mercury astronauts and the first American to travel into space. The Navy christened USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3), the newest ship in the Lewis and Clark class of underway replenishment ships 06 December 2006, during a launching at General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), San Diego. USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3) slid backwards into San Diego Bay during the christening ceremony. At contract award in 2002 she was scheduled for delivery in May 2006 On June 26, 2007 General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, delivered USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3) to the U.S. Navy. USNS Alan Shepard would remain in San Diego for about three months to conduct crew familiarization and final outfitting. USNS Alan Shepard will remain on the West Coast and serve with Sealift Logistics Command Pacific.

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif., was awarded on 18 July 2003 a $287,607,091 fixed-price-incentive modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2300) to exercise an option for design and construction of the fourth ship in the Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ship (T-AKE) Class. On 28 July 2006 General Dynamics NASSCO held a keel-laying ceremony for USNS Richard E. Byrd, the fourth ship in the US Navy's T-AKE program. The ship is named in honor of the Navy Rear Admiral and Medal of Honor recipient who explored the North and South Poles by air. On 16 May 2007 General Dynamics NASSCO launched the USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4).

The Department of the Navy announced 28 July 2006 the naming of the Navy's newest combat logistics force underway replenishment naval vessels, USNS Richard E. Byrd T-AKE 4 and USNS Robert E. Peary T-AKE 5, to honor the two American explorers famous for their Arctic and Antarctic explorations. On 12 December 2006 General Dynamics NASSCO held a keel- laying ceremony for the fifth ship in the U.S. Navy's T-AKE program. The ship is named USNS Robert E. Peary in honor of the former Navy rear admiral who was one of the first men to explore the Artic circle. A keel-laying ceremony is a shipbuilding tradition that signifies an important milestone as full-scale production begins. The Robert E. Peary was scheduled to be delivered to the Navy's Military Sealift Command in the second quarter of 2008. On 08 December 2006 General Dynamics NASSCO announced the start of construction on the sixth dry cargo-ammunition ship in the US Navy's T-AKE program. The ship, the Amelia Earhart, was scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the fourth quarter of 2008. On May 29, 2007 Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter announced his decision to name the Navy's newest underway replenishment vessel, the USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6). The name honors Amelia Mary Earhart for her courage, vision, and groundbreaking achievements, both in aviation and for women.

On 10 January 2005 National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, Calif., was awarded a $586,266,939 fixed-price-incentive options under previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2300) for the design and construction of the seventh and eighth ships in the Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ship (T-AKE) Class. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by May 1, 2008 for the seventh ship and July 31, 2008 for the eighth ship.

On January 30, 2006 National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, Calif., was awarded a $317,113,310 fixed-price-incentive modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2300) to exercise an option for design and construction of the ninth ship in the Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ship (T-AKE) Class. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by May 2009.

On 20 July 2007 General Dynamics, National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif., was awarded a $100,000,000 fixed-price-incentive modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2300) to exercise an option for long lead time material and associated labor for the 10th ship of the T-AKE 1-Class (T-AKE 10). The contractor will perform material sourcing, material ordering, vendor interface, and material quality assurance. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by September 2009.