General Dynamics Granted $106 Million Advance Procurement Contract

General Dynamics' GD subsidiary, General Dynamics NASSCO, was granted a $106 million contract to procure long lead time material and engineering support for the Expeditionary Mobile Base 5 (ESB-5), formerly known as the Mobile Landing Platform Afloat Forward Staging Base program. The contract was for the American Navy.

General Dynamics' subsidiary said that in 2011, the Navy awarded NASSCO with a contract to design, as well as, build the first two ships in the newly created Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) program, the USNS Montford Point and USNS John Glenn.

Similarly, In 2012, the program got expanded to a third MLP, reconfigured as an Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), the USNS Lewis B. Puller. With the first three ships delivered, NASSCO was currently constructing the fourth ship in the program, an AFSB reclassified as an ESB, the USNS Hershel "Woody" Williams.

The company indicated that the procurement of long lead time materials was expected to be completed by March 2017. The ESB is designed to serve as a flexible platform and a key element in the Navy's airborne mine countermeasures mission, with accommodations for up to 250 personnel and a large helicopter flight deck.