Navy awards Bath Flight III DDG contract modification

After more than a year of negotiations, the Navy today awarded a contract modification to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works for the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer told reporters last week he personally intervened in the discussions after both sides reached an impasse.

"Our team was doing their job, which was to hammer out and get the best deal possible, and the prime [contractor] on the other side was not coming to the table," he said at the time. "I said, 'Everyone go to your corners, I'll call the [chief executive].'"

Spencer said he had a "CEO-to-CEO" conversation, and the Navy had a signed contract at the end of the day.

In a statement about the contract award, Bath Iron Works praised Spencer for his “efforts and leadership.”

Two companies -- Bath and Huntington Ingalls' Ingalls Shipbuilding -- submitted engineering change proposals to modify the current Flight IIA design to accommodate the Advanced Missile Defense Radar with the requisite power and cooling as well as growth for future systems. The new radar is intended to allow the guided missile destroyer to better detect cruise missiles, aircraft and ballistic missiles.

In late June, the service awarded Ingalls Shipbuilding a contract modification to incorporate Flight III upgrades to the Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125). In 2016, the Navy announced Bath would be the first shipyard to build the upgraded destroyers.