Austal Delivers Its 6th LCS to the US Navy
Austal USA delivered its sixth littoral combat ship to the U.S. Navy on Friday, September 15. The future USS Omaha (LCS 12) is the nation’s 10th littoral combat ship delivered to the Navy, the first of two that the shipbuilder will deliver this year.
“They’re here and ready. Our Independence-variant littoral combat ships are coming off the line with exceptional quality and under the congressional cost cap,” said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle. “It’s important to us to safely and quickly get these highly capable game-changing ships to the Navy.”
The Omaha delivery follows the USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) commissioning which took place in Galveston, Texas, earlier this summer. With the USS Jackson (LCS 6) and USS Montgomery (LCS 8) having completed final contract trials and the USS Coronado (LCS 4) successfully completing its expeditionary maintenance stop while on its maiden deployment in the Western Pacific, the Independence-variant LCS program is mature and in full swing.
Six LCS remain under construction at Austal’s Alabama shipyard. Manchester (LCS 14) is making final preparations for acceptance trials and Tulsa (LCS 16) is preparing for builder’s sea trials. Charleston (LCS 18) launched last week, assembly is underway on Cincinnati (LCS 20) and modules for Kansas City (LCS 22) and Oakland (LCS 24) are under construction.
“This achievement would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment of Austal’s talented team of shipbuilders,” Perciavalle said. “The men and women of Austal are truly dedicated patriots and I’m looking forward to sharing many future successes with them and the thousands of suppliers across America who support this program.”
More than 900 suppliers in 41 states contribute to the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship program. This supplier base supports tens of thousands of small business to large business jobs.
Austal is also under contract to build 12 Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels (EPF) for the U.S. Navy. The company has delivered eight EPFs while an additional three are in various stages of construction.
