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Navy contract would keep hundreds employed at Beloit engine maker

A Fairbanks Morse Colt Pielstick engine used to power the USS Freedom, at top, left, is lifted into place at the Fairbanks manufacturing plant in Beloit. The company is in the running for a Navy contract to build additional engines for ships that would be constructed in Marinette, Wis. Fairbanks Morse photo.

BELOIT -- Thousands of manufacturing employees in Wisconsin — including hundreds in Beloit — are waiting to hear whether the Navy wants them to build dozens of new combat ships.

Lockheed/Marinette Marine of Marinette, Wis., is one of two finalists for a $5 billion contract to build a series of Navy ships, the diesel engines for which would be made at Fairbanks Morse in Beloit.

A decision on the contract is expected in late July or early August, and Lockheed generally is regarded as the front-runner.

Lockheed and General Dynamics submitted bids in April that call for building 10 Littoral combat ships and systems for five more vessels designed to fight pirates, chase drug runners and sweep for mines in shallow coast waters. The Navy’s original plan was to buy 55 ships overall while increasing its fleet to 313.

The Navy has said it expects to buy two of the ships in the 2010 fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, with the rest to follow through fiscal 2014.

John Bottorff, vice president of human resources at Fairbanks Morse for the last 21 years, said the contract “would be an important part of our base operation.”

“We do all of our manufacturing in Beloit, including the welding, fabrication, testing and production aspects,” Bottorff said. “We have 425 employees, 325 of them in Beloit, so this would be significant business for Fairbanks Morse and the folks who supply us with services, parts and materials.”

Read the full story in the e-edition of The Stateline News, HERE.