U.S. Marine general sees competition for next amphibious ship | Reuters: The U.S. Navy will insist on competition for the next U.S. amphibious warship despite a decision last year to base the ship on the LPD-17 ship designed by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc, Marine Corps Major General Robert Walsh said on Tuesday.
Walsh, who is director of the U.S. Navy's Expeditionary Warfare Division, said the U.S. military owned the design for the LPD-17 class of ships and would launch a competition for the new warship program known as LX (R).
"Competition drives down cost," Walsh said after a speech at the annual symposium of the Surface Navy Association. He said competition was also one of the key goals of the Pentagon's Better Buying Power initiative to improve arms acquisitions.
Navy officials had no immediate comment on the expected terms of the competition, which are likely to emerge after the release of the fiscal 2016 budget request.
