Posted on September 28, 2020
The Department of Defense and U.S. Navy awarded a contract on September 4th to Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) for design and engineering work of the Navy’s Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LUSV), the future large-size unmanned surface vessels, able to operate without crew on board.
FMM and five other companies will receive nearly $7 million each to develop the conceptual design by August 2021. The contract includes an option for an additional study phase to develop detailed engineering work that, if exercised, would extend the duration to May 2022. The Navy is expected to use these studies for the construction of additional future LUSVs.
“We are interested in helping build tomorrow’s U.S. Navy, including manned and unmanned vessels,” said Dario Deste, CEO of Fincantieri Marine Group.“We are committed to sharing our technical expertise and industry-leading practices to give the U.S. Navy a competitive conceptual design for their large unmanned vessels.”
Four months ago, FMM was awarded the contract to build the Navy’s first-in-class guided-missile FFG(X) frigate, with options for nine follow-on ships collectively worth nearly $5.5 billion. In addition to that recent milestone, Fincantieri Marine Group is currently building the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships, of which 10 have already been delivered.
About Fincantieri Marine Group
Fincantieri Marine Group is the American subsidiary of Fincantieri, and operates three Great Lakes shipyards: Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, and Fincantieri ACE Marine. Fincantieri Marine Group’s more than 2,100 steelworkers, craftsman, engineers and technicians specialize in the design, construction and maintenance of merchant ships and government vessels, including for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.
