Metal Shark, ReconCraft land Navy 40' patrol boat contracts

Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark and ReconCraft, Clackamas, Ore., have been awarded seven-year US Navy indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts worth up to $290 million to produce up to seventy-three 40-foot “40 PB” patrol boats for Naval Expeditionary Combat Command.

 Designed by Metal Shark’s in-house engineering team specifically for the Navy, the 40 PB has been built by Metal Shark since award of the 40 PB Flight 1 contract in 2017.  With the Flight 2 award, 40 PB production will continue in force at Metal Shark’s South Louisiana production facilities, with ReconCraft also building at its Clackamas, Ore., facility.

 “Winning 40 PB Flight 2 is a huge win for the entire Metal Shark family, our suppliers, and the state of Louisiana,” Metal Shark CEO Chris Allard said in announcing the contract. “We have developed our processes, built our facilities, and grown and trained our team specifically to accommodate high volume, rapid and repeatable, high quality, serialized construction of complex vessels like 40 PB. With the award of Flight 2 we will continue to showcase the skills of our Louisiana workforce while supplying these important combatant craft to our fighting forces.” 

Metal Shark continues to build fourteen 40 PB vessels under the original 40 PB Flight 1 IDIQ, with a total of 42 boats delivered to date. With the award of Flight 2, the Navy has placed an initial, immediate order for two additional vessels from Metal Shark, which will be delivered in 2025. Under the terms of the award, Metal Shark will supply spares, training, engineering, and technical support in addition to the vessels.

Visually distinctive thanks to its chiseled, angular profile and a unique faceted hull, 40 PB is a ballistic-protected combatant craft powered by twin diesel inboards and water jets. 

Metal Shark engineers designed the 40 PB with “a moderate aft deadrise, wide-waterplane, sharp-entry hull form that not only achieves 35+ knot sprint speeds while displaying superb dynamic stability in a range of conditions,” according to the company.

The design “also offers enhanced handling and greatly reduced operating cost at the 10-15 knot escort and cruise speeds where the vessel spends the bulk of its operational life. 40 PB features an advanced C4ISR suite and can be armed with a range of crew-served and remotely operated weapons systems.”

 “Winning 40 PB in 2017 was a crowning achievement for Metal Shark, and we are equally honored to have received this Flight 2 award as evidence of the Navy’s continued trust in us today,” said Allard. “As a vital part of the defense industrial base Metal Shark proudly supports those who serve and protect. We are excited to continue supplying the world’s greatest Navy with world’s most advanced patrol boat.”