Lockheed Martin Canada could be the next company to shape up Canada's shipyard after winning a competition to design the next fleet of Royal Canadian Navy ships.

A team of contractors led by Lockheed was announced Friday as the preferred bidder after presenting a BAE Type 26 design to the government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilders Inc. Now the team is one step closer to taking home a contract worth $60 billion.

The next step in the bidding process will take place over the early months of 2019, when the Canadian government will examine the winning bidder's financial solvency and design proposal.

During that time, Lockheed will go through the "due diligence" process, which includes negotiations with the company on intellectual property rights, an assessment of combat systems performance

an assessment of the company's financial capability to deliver the project and verification of various other administrative matters.

If the Lockheed-led team does not win the contract, the second-ranked bidder will become the preferred bidder. Teams led by Alion Science and Technology and Spanish-based Navantia also submitted bids for the design contract.

The Canadian government expects to award the contract by this winter and for construction to begin by the early 2020s.

"The Canadian Surface Combatant project is the largest, most complex procurement ever undertaken by the Government of Canada," Public Services and Procurement Canada said in a press release. "These ships will form the backbone of our Royal Canadian Navy and will be Canada's major surface component of maritime combat power for decades to come."

Navy taps Austal for next expeditionary fast transport
Washington (UPI) Oct 19, 2018 –

Austal USA has been awarded a $57 million contract for long-lead-time material and production engineering for expeditionary fast transport 13.

The deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, comes under a cost-plus-fixed-fee undefinitized contract for the EPF 13.

The EPF vessels are used for high-speed, shallow-draft transportation of personnel, supplies and equipment for the Navy, Marine Corps and Army.

Austal has built or is under contract for the previous 12 EPF vessels, which are designed in Australia — Austal is based there — and built at the company's Mobile, Ala., facility.

The vessels include a flight deck for helicopters, as well as an off-load ramp designed for "the types of austere piers and quay walls common in developing countries," among other locations, according to the company.

Work on the contract will be performed in Michigan, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Texas, as well as other locations both inside and outside the United States.

Austal has been obligated $43.4 million from fiscal 2018 Navy shipbuilding and conversion funds at the time of the award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year.

Work on EPF 13 is expected to be completed by November 2021.