Vessel construction manager for follow-on ships of the Landing Ship Medium program

(a) In general After the construction of the lead ship of the Landing Ship Medium program has commenced, the Secretary of the Navy shall seek to enter into an agreement with an appropriate vessel construction manager pursuant to which the vessel construction manager shall seek to enter into one or more contracts for the construction of not more than 8 additional landing ships under the program. (b) Requirements for additional ships The additional landing ships authorized to be constructed under subsection (a), shall be nondevelopmental items constructed using a design that is— (1) the same as the design of the lead ship; or (2) derived from such design. (c) Lead ship defined In this section, the term lead ship means the first landing ship procured as a commercial or nondevelopmental item as authorized under section 128(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (Public Law 118–159).