The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
BAE Systems has been awarded a five-year Navy contract to modernize 11 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, the company announced Friday.
The "multi-ship, multi-option" contract includes an initial one-year award and four option years; if all the options are exercised, the contract could be worth between $350 million and $500 million, according to the company.
Modernization, maintenance and repair work will begin in July on the flagship of the class, the Arleigh Burke, at the company's facility in Norfolk, south of the Berkley Bridge.
The company also has contracts for Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers and amphibious ships in Norfolk, San Diego and Hawaii.
The company will be well into the modernization process on the John Paul Jones, another guided missile destroyer in the class, in San Diego when the Arleigh Burke arrives in Norfolk to begin the same work, said Bill Clifford, president of BAE Systems Ship Repair.
"This will allow us to leverage the experience gained at our San Diego facility and apply it to the modernization of the Arleigh Burke class in Norfolk," Clifford said.
The Navy's multi-ship, multi-option contract essentially makes the shipyard "a maintainer of a class of ships," offering a kind of one-stop-shop model, he said.
There are 25 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers homeported in Norfolk, including three yet to be delivered, according to BAE officials.
The BAE contract covers work on 11 of the vessels, all of which will be dry-docked, the company said.
In January, a parallel Navy contract was awarded to another Norfolk shipyard, MHI Ship Repair and Services. It will cover "top-side" work on another 11 Norfolk-based destroyers that will not include dry-docking, as well as the three yet to be delivered.
Tom Epley, president and CEO of MHI, said his company's Navy contract is also for five years and is worth more than $100 million if all options are exercised.
BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair is the largest of four ship repair facilities the company operates nationwide. It employs about 1,000 workers in the Norfolk area. The other BAE facilities are in San Diego, Hawaii and San Francisco.
BAE Systems, the parent of Norfolk-based BAE Systems Ship Repair, has headquarters in England. It is a major U.S. defense contractor, ranking No. 4 among all federal contractors in fiscal year 2008, with more than $16.5 billion in awards, according to fedspending.org, a Web site sponsored by OMB Watch, a Washington nonprofit.
The same year, the company ranked No. 5 for federal contracts performed in Virginia, which totaled more than $1.1 billion.
Virginia-based contractors ranked No. 1 among those in all 50 states for federal contracts in fiscal 2008, with awards worth $78.3 billion, according to the Web site.
Robert McCabe, (757)-446-2327, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com
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I have to question our priorities.
How is it that we can come up with over 1 billion dollars for for one years worth of contracts with one defense contractor and there is no questioning by the public over the necessity or usefulness of the money being spent. Maybe its is absolutely necessary, maybe, and most likely, it is not.
But we can not find a billion dollars to contribute to medicaid and medicare to help our seniors meet their health care needs?
Its all about priorities. We are a nation that will spend billions for instruments of death and destruction, but can never seem to find the money to perform good and provide necessary services needed by our citizens here at home.
I for one am tired of here how providing health care to all our citizens is socialism. Every red cent in the U.S. Treasury was earned by the collective labor of all our working men and women. It is our money and if we choose to spend it to ensure that all of us have access to health care, how is that socialism, is that government aid. It is our own money which we are choosing to spend on the betterment of ourselves as a nation.
From da wikipedia
BAE Systems plc is a British defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is the world's second-largest defence contractor and the largest in Europe.
I can't think of anything
I can't think of anything more complex than coming up with a bid for a project such as this. Out of curiosity how does a company bid on something that could have so many variables along the way?
How the bid works
Really,
Depends on the type of contract more then anything. Firm Fixed Price, you are asked to take more risk, therefore you buffer your numbers a bit, and after start of contract, you stick exactly to the letter, anything that requires something extra, takes a contract modification, which costs a substantial amount of money.
Time and Material, a bit more tricky, especially when you have option years, as you have to factor in COLA, raises, training w/ turn over. But, you do not have to always be the lowest bidder when it comes to T&M, you just have to show that you can do that work better and more efficient then anyone else, and have a capable work force that can adjust faster to changes from the customer then the other contractors.
W/R
Kirk
Too bad...
BAE isn't in the lightrail building business... BAE is a good company and I wish them and their employees a good proitable year.
Great news,
for the local economy. More of you will benefit than you think. Great job BAE.