Austal USA Awarded LCS Maintenance Contract
The U.S. Navy awarded Austal USA a sustainment execution contract (SEC) for repair, maintenance and modernization of all Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) homeported in San Diego. This includes all Austal-built Independence-variant LCS as well as the west-coast based Freedom-variant LCS.
The SEC West award will enable the company to further expand its current San Diego service center while offering a greater range and depth of support available to the U.S. Navy. Austal USA is also expanding its Singapore service center to effectively support the Navy’s increased presence throughout the Pacific region.
In September 2020, the company expanded its Mobile, Ala. service center to support both government and commercial customers by purchasing 15 acres of waterfront property along the Mobile River and establishing its Austal USA West Campus Ship Repair facility. The purchase included 100,000 square feet of covered repair facilities, a 20,000 ton Panamax-class floating dry dock, 300,000 square feet of outside fabrication space, and a pier front capable of mooring vessels up to 1,000 feet.
“Growing our service business to meet increasing customer demand continues to be a priority of ours,” said Austal USA interim president Rusty Murdaugh. “We are particularly focused on expanding our capability in the Pacific region to meet the growing demand from our Navy, Coast Guard, and Military Sealift Command customers.”
In 2017, the company expanded its Pacific presence and established a Singapore service center adjacent to Changi Naval Base. Since its inception, the service center has been providing preventive, corrective, and emergent maintenance on both the LCS and Austal-built Expeditionary Fast Transport ships in this region.
“We’re seeing a great deal of usage of the Expeditionary Fast Transport ships. Military Sealift Command is utilizing these ships for a variety of mission sets. Our facility in Singapore and our work in Guam has been critical for us to support these ships and their missions,” Murdaugh said. “As the Navy increases LCS deployments to the western Pacific, we will likewise increase our presence and capability.”