WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold today met with Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and executives from Marinette Marine Corporation and its parent company, Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, regarding the company’s bid to build a new fleet of Navy combat ships.  Marinette Marine, part of a team with Lockheed Martin, is competing with General Dynamics and Alabama shipbuilder Austal for the contract to build a new class of small warship the Navy is developing, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).  The contract could mean thousands of new jobs and years of shipbuilding work for Marinette Marine and northeastern Wisconsin.

“We want to impress upon the Navy that Marinette Marine is the best value, the best product and the best investment.  We have no doubt that Marinette Marine can compete on the merits of being a quality shipbuilder with an innovative design that will benefit the Navy, but we want to do all we can to support their bid.  That’s our priority in the coming months before the Navy announces its decision,” Kohl said.

“Marinette Marine brings to the table a history of excellent craftsmanship, as demonstrated by its work on the first Littoral Combat Ship.  As the Navy considers Marinette Marine’s bid, I will work with Governor Doyle, Senator Kohl and the Wisconsin congressional delegation to strongly support it,” said Feingold.

At a time when many Navy ships cost at least $1 billion each, the Navy has been trying to build a smaller, more flexible vessel that can work closer to shore.  Ultimately, the LCS will likely be less than half that price.

The Navy wants to buy 55 LCSs over the next decades.  The Navy needs the LCS in order to meet its goal of having 300 ships in the fleet so it can protect U.S. interests wherever it needs to around the world quickly.  One benefit of the LCS, other than its relative low cost, is that the ship has spaces that can be fitted with a variety of weapon systems depending on what is needed.  Each ship will have multiple configurations, saving the Navy money.   For instance, the LCS will be able to change out equipment so that if it needs to deliver Special Operations forces, it can do that.  Then if the Navy needs more ships to hunt for submarines, it can swap out the Special Operations equipment and put in place equipment to hunt subs.