Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD) announced today that it has been awarded a contract by Huntington Ingalls Industries to build and deliver four main propulsion diesel engines featuring common rail technology to power the Navy’s newest landing platform/dock (LPD) ship, LPD 32.
LPD 32 will be the third San Antonio-class Flight II amphibious ship. Ingalls has delivered 12 San Antonio-class ships to the Navy and has three more under construction, including Richard M. McCool (LPD 29), Harrisburg (LPD 30) and Pittsburgh (LPD 31), which will be the second Flight II LPD.
The San Antonio class is a major part of the Navy’s 21st century amphibious assault force. The 684'x105' ships are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey. The ships support a Marine Air Ground Task Force across the spectrum of operations, conducting amphibious and expeditionary missions of sea control and power projection to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the first half of the 21st century.
The LPD amphibious transport dock is equipped with:
- Two 30-mm Bushmaster II cannons for surface defense
- Two Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers for air defense
- Four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters
- Two LCACs, one LCU and 14 AAVs
- Four FMD diesel engines that can reach a maximum speed of more than 22 knots.
FMD's common rail system technology maximizes performance through enhanced fuel efficiency and reduced carbon emissions.
“For many decades, the engineers and entrepreneurs who built Fairbanks Morse Defense have been proving the quality of our engines while improving real-world results,” said FMD CEO George Whittier. “Today, the U.S. fleet and its allies rely on our onboard solutions for global technical support to maximize mission confidence, which is why we remain as committed as ever to designing, developing and delivering the best naval power and propulsion systems on the planet.”
FMD previously provided engines with common rail technology for LPD 30 and LPD 31.
