Yahoo Finance by Rich Smith 3/14/2018
Currently floating a navy comprising just 11 capital warships (four corvettes and seven frigates, most 30 years old or older), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been on the hunt for new warships from Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) for nearly a decade. Last week, it got its wish.
In the Department of Defense's first contracts digest of the week, the Pentagon described awards totaling $2.63 billion. Topping that list was a $481.1 million award funding "long-lead-time material" that Lockheed will need to begin construction of four Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) ships.
This contract award shouldn't come as a huge surprise. As recently as November, Lockheed Martin updated investors on the progress of negotiations with Saudi Arabia to win the warship deal. In its post-Q3 earnings conference call, Lockheed Martin CFO Bruce Tanner noted that the company was already "starting to do some design work and so forth" on potential variants of the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (that Lockheed builds in cooperation with Fincantieri Marinette Marine for the U.S. Navy) that might interest the Saudis.
Now it appears Lockheed has hit upon a design that Saudi Arabia likes.
What is MMSC?
Derived from Lockheed Martin's proven Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship, MMSC, says Lockheed, "is a lethal and highly maneuverable surface combatant capable of littoral and open-ocean operation."
Each warship stretches nearly 390 feet in length, with weapons bristling all along its length: a MK-75 76mm cannon, ten 50-caliber machine guns, two eight-cell MK 41 Vertical Launch Systems, and two Harpoon missile launchers for offense. MSSM will also be equipped with Raytheon RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles and a Raytheon SeaRAM Close-in Weapon System for air and missile defense. MSSM even has room on deck for an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter -- also sold by Lockheed Martin, and of which Saudi Arabia already owns several -- for anti-submarine warfare.
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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lockheed-martin-build-saudi-arabia-131900314.html