US Navy Looks for a Commercial Manager for Marine Corps' New Landing Ship

This variant of the U.S. Army's Besson-class will be the base design for the lead ship in the Landing Ship Medium program (IDF file image)

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is exploring the idea of hiring a vessel construction manager to handle the future Landing Ship Medium (LSM) program, the Marine Corps' new landing craft. It is the first time in recent memory that NAVSEA - the Navy's construction manager - will outsource this role to a third party.

The idea of putting an intermediary between government owner and private shipbuilder was invented during the Maritime Administration's National Security Multi-mission Vessel program. MARAD hired TOTE Services as VCM, effectively making TOTE the prime contractor, and TOTE subcontracted the construction work to Philly Shipyard. With TOTE standing between MARAD and the yard, Philly was insulated from the paperwork, bid protests and change orders that accompany government shipbuilding projects. Philly has been completing the NSMV program on budget and schedule.

By contrast, all of the Navy's newbuild programs are behind schedule, some by years, according to Navy Secretary John Phelan. NAVSEA is known for strict requirements, and has been known to issue change orders; a VCM model raises the prospect of reduced friction between owner and yard, valuable if the Navy wishes to look at bids from smaller yards that have less experience with government contracting.

The Landing Ship Medium is a small transport vessel for the Marine Corps, a connector to support the service's mobile anti-ship missile batteries in the islands and littorals of the Western Pacific. In the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, LSMs would help specially-equipped Marine Corps units disperse, resupply and reposition within theater, without attracting as much attention as a full-size amphibious assault ship.

In April, Naval Sea Systems Command announced that Bollinger will build a lead-ship LSM based on the U.S. Army's Besson-class landing ship, as adapted by Bollinger for export sale to the Israeli Navy. NAVSEA has bought the technical data packages for both Bollinger's Besson-class variant and Damen's LST-100 design, a popular landing ship used by several allied navies.

According to the Navy's request for information, the vessel construction manager will take the supplied technical data package for the LSM, help pick yard(s) to build it, and make sure that the ships get built to specification. The delivery timeline is about 36 months per hull with an initial series of eight, plus options for more.