Austal USA celebrates first LCS delivery in 2020

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Austal’s American arm has delivered its 11th Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to the US Navy at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.

The future USS Kansas City (LCS 22) is a 127-metre trimaran designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft.

Intended for operation in near-shore environments, LCS 22 is a fast, agile, focused-mission vessel that successfully integrates new technology and capability to support current and future US Navy mission capability.

Austal CEO David Singleton commended the company’s workforce on the latest delivery, adding that upgrades to the LCS program continue to take shape, both in production and post-delivery

“Austal USA’s delivery of the Independence-class LCS program continues to impress, with quality, cost and productivity improvements being achieved with each new vessel,” Mr Singleton continued.

“We have now delivered 11 of the 19 Independence-class LCS currently contracted and it’s very pleasing to see more and more of these ships deployed around the world, adding great capability to the US Navy.”

Austal USA is also under contract to build 14 Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels (EPF) for the U.S. Navy. The company has delivered 11 EPFs, while an additional two are in various stages of construction at the Mobile, Alabama shipyard.

Image credit: https://www.austal.com/