INGALLS SHIPBUILDING AWARDED $604.3 MILLION CONTRACT TO BUILD DDG 121

PASCAGOULA, Miss., March 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries' (NYSE:HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a $604.3 million contract modification to fund construction of the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) Aegis guided missile destroyer DDG 121 for the U.S. Navy. The ship is the third of five DDG 51 destroyers the company was awarded in June 2013.

"The DDG 51 program has been the backbone of Ingalls Shipbuilding for the past three decades," said DDG 51 Program Manager George Nungesser. "We now have a hot production line in the shipyard where we can maintain our highly skilled shipbuilding crews in the same working areas for each ship. This will allow increased learning and provide the most efficient way to reduce cost and schedule while building quality ships for the United States Navy. We have a lot of experience and talent throughout our program, and with the facilities to build ships simultaneously, we will continue to improve as each ship is launched."

The five-ship contract, part of a multi-year procurement in the DDG 51 program, allows Ingalls to build ships more efficiently by buying bulk material and moving the skilled workforce from ship to ship. With the contract, Ingalls will be building DDGs over the next decade.

Ingalls Shipbuilding has delivered 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy, including USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110), which was commissioned in 2011. With the addition of the DDG 121 contract, Ingalls now has five new destroyers under construction. U.S. Navy photo

Ingalls has delivered 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy. Destroyers currently under construction at Ingalls are John Finn (DDG 113), Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) and Delbert D. Black (DDG 119).

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships that can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in support of the United States' military strategy. DDGs are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface threats. The ship contains a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.