WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., today praised the award of a $107,194,022 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 contract is the fifth increment of long-lead-time material for the ship, which will be built in Pascagoula.

“The talented shipbuilders at Ingalls build some of the world’s finest ships for our U.S. Navy fleet,” Wicker said. “This new award is a down payment on the construction of LHA 9, the third of a new generation of amphibious assault ships that will enhance our Sailors’ and Marines’ ability to project power around the globe.”

“Utilizing advanced appropriations funding to procure long-lead-time materials for the LHA 9 allows Ingalls shipbuilders to work undeterred in our effort to provide the Navy with the ships it needs,” said Hyde-Smith, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I’m pleased to see this contract issued now as we begin the FY2022 process of funding future shipbuilding needs.”

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.