Austal USA wins contract for first vessel in ocean surveillance ship program valued up to $3 billion

The Pentagon awarded Austal USA a contract to build the lead ship in what’s envisioned as the first of seven next-generation oceanic surveillance ships — in all a potential $3 billion program.

The initial $113 million contract is for designing T-AGOS 25, an auxiliary vessel focused on underwater surveillance, according to the Pentagon’s routine contract announcements published on May 18, Breaking Defense reports.

The announcement states the Navy received one other offer in addition to Austal, but the Department of Defense does not routinely reveal the identity of contractors that fail to win work.

Austal will be the ship’s prime contractor but teamed up with L3 Harris Technologies, Massachusetts-based Noise Control Engineering and Maryland-based TAI Engineering — both of which are specialized engineering firms — as well as Thomas-Sea Mine Constructors, a Louisiana-based vessel repair and construction company.

The primary mission of surveillance vessels such as T-AGOS is to gather and provide underwater acoustical data that helps the larger Navy fleet find and defeat enemy submarines.

While the newly awarded contract focuses on the initial design phases of the shipbuilding process, the service’s long-term shipbuilding plan anticipates the Navy will begin buying T-AGOS-class vessels starting with one in fiscal 2025 and maintain a procurement profile of one per year onward. Budget justification documents indicate each ship will cost between $417 and $434 million.

“The Austal USA team is excited to support the U.S. Navy with this critical program. We have enjoyed our long partnership with the Navy in delivering aluminum ships and we are honored to continue that relationship in delivering high-quality steel ships on schedule and on budget,” Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh said in the May 18 statement.

Anthony Nigara, president of maritime at L3Harris, said in the same release, “As the electronic and propulsion systems integrator, we’re excited to be a partner on the Austal USA team to develop the next class of TAGOS ocean surveillance ships. Our strong partnership with Austal reinforces our commitment to delivering advanced, surveillance-capable platforms to meet the U.S. Navy’s mission requirements.”

The Navy’s budget justification documents indicate the first ship should be delivered to the service in January 2028.