Austal Launches Littoral Combat Ship INDEPENDENCE (LCS-2)

Austal has successfully launched its landmark 127 metre Littoral Combat Ship INDEPENDENCE (LCS 2) in what proved a momentous occasion for the company as it celebrates its 20th year.

Since its keel laying in January 2006, INDEPENDENCE has steadily progressed within Austal USA’s purpose built construction facility in Mobile, Alabama toward becoming a formidable warship. Today’s launch was a significant step along the way to achieving that goal.

The launch procedure involved coordination of all large shipping traffic in the Mobile River while INDEPENDENCE was rolled out of the construction hall on sixty-six 100 ton rail-trolleys onto a floating drydock.

The 127 metre Austal trimaran seaframe is the platform for the LCS’s mission and weapon systems. This seaframe provides superior seakeeping and aviation as a result of its long, slender central hull and smaller side hulls (“amahs”). The trimaran hullform provides a large internal mission deck with a high payload carrying capacity.

Located above the mission bay is the enormous flight deck capable of conducting dual H-60 helicopter operations and accommodating the US Navy’s largest helicopter, an H-53, a feature not available on similar size naval warships. The vertical location of the flight deck on the trimaran hull form provides the highest flight deck elevation on a combatant ship other than a major amphibious vessel or aircraft carrier.

INDEPENDENCE will be moored alongside the Austal USA facility while the activation and testing of combat and other onboard systems is completed. Sea trials are expected to commence in late 2008.

In congratulating the workforce on the construction of the vessel and successful launch, Austal USA Chief Executive Officer Bob Browning commented;

“This is an incredible achievement not only for Austal but particularly for Austal USA which was only established in 1999. To have recruited, trained and developed a strong workforce of over 1000 staff from scratch, whom today launched the largest and most sophisticated aluminium warship built to date, is an impressive feat.”

INDEPENDENCE is one of two alternative ship designs that will be evaluated by the U.S. Navy as part of its plan to expand the existing fleet to 313 ships. The Navy’s current program of record calls ultimately for constructing 55 Littoral Combat Ships.

In a Pentagon media roundtable held on 12 February 2008 Chief of US Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughhead said;

“A 313 ship fleet is the floor. You can look at the shipbuilding plan and you can see that LCS is the major driver of the number, and it’s not just to drive the number higher”

“The fact is that we as a Navy do have a gap in what I call the green water. We’re really good in the blue. We’ve started to emerge again in the brown water with our riverine force. But in the littoral or green water, we have a gap. LCS fills the gap and LCS is the best ship to fill the gap. It has the speed. It has the shallow draft that expands the amount of area in which we can operate. And it’s also been designed to have rapidly changeable mission modules. That’s part of the design. So LCS is a very important ship for our Navy.”

Austal USA Update

The launch of INDEPENDENCE (LCS 2) closely follows the recent delivery of the first Hawaii Superferry vessel. A 107 metre vehicle and passenger carrying aluminium catamaran, Hawaii Superferry is Austal USA’s largest construction project to date and is the largest high speed aluminium catamaran built in the USA. A second identical ferry is currently under construction and is scheduled for launch in September 2008.

The recent purchase of an adjacent 100 acres of land and the award of US $33.7 million in funding from the US Navy for shipyard development will see Austal USA commence construction of a Modular Manufacturing Facility (MMF) in 2008. The first phase is due for completion in mid-2009 and the resulting production line will enable the construction of three large aluminium vessels per year. The funding is provided through “Infrastructure Improvements at Gulf Coast Shipyards” for eligible shipyards with current defence contracts. Phase 2 of the construction is expected to begin shortly thereafter and will double Austal’s shipbuilding capability to six large vessels per year.

In addition, Austal was recently awarded one of three Preliminary Design Contracts for the US Navy and Army’s Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV). Austal will submit a proposal for the Detailed Design and Construction Contract in mid 2008 leading to the selection of a builder for the JHSV class of vessels.

As the prime contractor, and the only shipyard with a track record of building large (over 100 metres in length) high speed aluminium vessels in the USA, Austal is confident of its ability to deliver a low risk JHSV platform to the US Navy and Army.

The JHSV requirements and concept of operations are similar to those of the Austal-built 101 metre “WestPac Express”, which has been successfully serving the Third Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan for more than six consecutive years.