Austal Wins Second Littoral Combat Ship Order

LCS "Independence" takes shape

The option for a second Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) has now been confirmed following the announcement in October 2005 for the first General Dynamics / Austal LCS.

Based on the 127 metre advanced Austal trimaran seaframe, which forms the platform for the ship’s operational and combat systems, the new vessel will be built alongside “Independence” that is currently in an advanced stage of construction in Austal’s Mobile, Alabama, USA shipyard.

Recent Navy reports have speculated on an expanded acquisition strategy, from 4 to a possible 17, for the Flight 0 fleet of LCSs that also includes an alternate monohull ship design. Commenting in September, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition), Dr Delores Etter, told Reuters,

“The U.S. Navy hopes to finalize its acquisition strategy for a new class of shore-hugging combat ships by mid-December.”

“The Navy has not yet announced whether it will choose one or both designs for full production of some 55 ships over the next decade -- or who would build them.”

"By the end of fall, we will have a pretty good idea of where we want to go with this"

"Both ships are really exciting. Both ships are doing great."

Etter said she was "really optimistic" LCS would become an example of a new way of building ships, with a focus on making them more affordable and building them quickly.

In addition, the prospect of foreign military sales of the LCS is also gaining increased interest and US Navy emphasis as the first of fleet vessels increasingly near completion. A reported 26 potential buyers exist worldwide for the ship and its companion equipment with two near-term contenders and four others that have expressed active interest.

Austal’s revolutionary trimaran LCS design offers superior seakeeping (rough weather capabilities) via its long, slender central hull that combined with smaller side hulls allows unequalled beam (width) creating a voluminous internal mission deck with a high payload carrying capacity. Above this is an enormous flight deck capable of handling dual H-60 helicopter operations, a feature not available on similar size naval vessels.

In Washington for the announcement, Austal Executive Chairman John Rothwell commented;

“My congratulations again go to the dedicated Austal LCS project team that has worked closely with the US Navy since the original concept design to today where we have the first trimaran LCS in an advanced stage of construction. The best is yet to come as we look forward to “Independence” demonstrating in operation the advanced capabilities of the trimaran design and the benefits this will bring to naval operations.”

Austal USA Chief Operating Officer, Dan Spiegel added;

“With this second LCS order Austal USA is targeting to grow our workforce to 1200 employees by the end of 2007. We are committed through our training programmes to recruiting and developing the most highly skilled group of aluminium shipbuilders in the USA.”