Marinette Marine Corporation, a member of the Lockheed Martin-led Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) industry team, has broken ground for an expansion to nearly double the size of its main indoor ship construction building -- an investment to support the construction of the US Navy's LCS.
The expansion will provide enough indoor space to simultaneously house two complete LCS hulls and parts for two additional ships. The building enhancements also allow greater use of Marinette Marine's proven modular construction process, which will enable the Lockheed Martin team to construct LCS more cost effectively.
The ground-breaking is the latest in a recent series of investments made by the shipyard's parent company, Fincantieri, as part of its five-year, $100 million plan to modernize its US shipbuilding operations and support the LCS program.
"This groundbreaking represents a significant milestone in the transformation of Marinette Marine to the premier mid-tier shipyard in the United States," said Giuseppe Bono, Fincantieri's chief executive officer. "The building expansion will allow us to fully complete a large ship such as LCS completely indoors at an even higher degree of completion and quality."
Marinette Marine constructed and launched the nation's first LCS, USS Freedom. Commissioned by the US Navy in 2008, USS Freedom was deployed two years ahead of schedule and recently completed three successful drug interdictions. The shipyard is also constructing the Navy's third LCS, Fort Worth (LCS 3).
Lockheed Martin is headquartered in Bethesda, Md.