Lake Assault Boats, a Superior-based manufacturer of patrol, rescue and fire boats, has been chosen to build up to 119 Force Protection Patrol, or FP-M, boats for the U.S. Navy.
Written By: News Tribune | Feb 24th 2020 – 2pm.
In a news release, the company said it was awarded the five-year contract after an “extensive competitive bid process.”
If it produces all 119 boats, the contract will be worth up to $56 million. The first deliveries are expected in November. The boats will mostly be used in patrol, interrogation of other boats and escorting vessels.
“We are honored to be chosen by the U.S. Navy to supply it with these versatile and powerful FP-M patrol craft,” said Chad DuMars, Lake Assault Boat vice president of operations. “Our FP-M vessels will be engineered and built to the same high manufacturing and quality control standards as our patrol and fire boats currently in service throughout North America.”
The 33-foot-long boats with 10-foot beams will be powered by twin 225-horsepower outboard motors and will feature four weapon mounts capable of handling .50-caliber machine guns.
Earlier this month, Lake Assault Boats said it was delivering several similar boats to U.S. Army’s Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point base in North Carolina, the ammunition shipping point on the Atlantic coast for U.S. armed forces worldwide.