MARBLEHEAD, Mass. — The U.S. Navy has awarded Ribcraft, a manufacturer of rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) for law enforcement, safety professionals and military agencies, a five-year indefinite-quantity contract worth up to $43 million, the company said in a release.
Under the contract, Ribcraft will build and deliver an estimated 48 of its 11-meter Expeditionary Mine Counter Measure Boats. Ribcraft has also been providing the Navy with 7-Meter shipboard RIBs since 2014.
“The awarding of this latest contract is testament to Ribcraft’s exceptional design and production capabilities. We’ve enjoyed a long and collaborative relationship with the Navy,” said P. Brian Gray, Ribcraft’s president and CEO. “We have a proven track record of meeting the needs of the Navy with exceptional product and service.”
A critical component of the Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures Company, the 11-meter RIBs will serve to support explosive ordnance disposal mine countermeasure platoons in both shallow and deep-water operations.
To achieve this, Ribcraft will build two configurations for mine countermeasure operations, one with an open aft deck for stowage and deployment of two combat rubber raiding craft, and the other featuring a launch, recover and handling system for deployment and retrieval of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), which will have the capability to launch, recover and handle two UUVs using a single davit.
