JULY 24, 2013 — Huntington Ingalls Industries' (NYSE:HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has delivered the final aft peripheral vertical launch system (PVLS) assemblies to the U.S. Navy for the Zumwalt-class destroyer Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001).

Marty Capalbo (left) and John Broderick (right) sign paperwork transferring ownership of the PVLS components from Ingalls to the Navy. Capalbo is DDG 1000 configuration manager, SUPSHIP Gulf Coast; Broderick is Ingalls' DDG 1000 systems integration manager. Also present (left to right) Jason Frioux, PVLS program manager, Ingalls; Chip Stargardt, Quality Assurance, SUPSHIP; D.R. Clark, PVLS ship superintendent, Ingalls; and Zachery Michini, production controller, SUPSHIP. Photo by Steve Blount

The two units for the PVLS were delivered a week early.

"Our shipbuilders have done an outstanding job in incorporating lessons learned from the first aft PVLS products," said Ingalls DDG 1000 Program Manager Steve Sloan. "Delivering these products a week early demonstrates smart shipbuilding by using previous experiences to integrate an improved plan to do it better the second time around. With a constant focus on safety and quality, our shipbuilders have done outstanding work on these units."

General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works is building the DDG 1001 hull, while Ingalls is building the PVLS assemblies in Pascagoula and the composite hangar and deckhouse at composite center of excellence in Gulfport, MS. The PVLS distributes the missile launchers for the destroyer in separate four-cell launcher compartments along the ship's hull. It is an alternative to the centralized missile magazines found on DDG 51-class ships. The PVLS launcher configuration was chosen to significantly enhance the ship's survivability.

Four assembly units make up the aft PVLS. The first two units were delivered in July 2012. The rest of the DDG 1001 work is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2014.