Austal USA marks milestone with LCS delivery

AUGUST 13, 2015—Austal USA has delivered the USS Jackson (LCS 6), the first LCS ship built by Austal as the prime contractor as part of a 10-ship, $3.5 billion block-buy contract. It was the third Littoral Combat Ship built at its Mobile, AL, facility—the world’s largest aluminum construction shipyard.

On hand for the hand over was Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle, who called the delivery “a major milestone for our company.”

After the delivery of Jackson, six Independence-variant LCS remain under construction at Austal’s Alabama shipyard. Montgomery (LCS 8) is being prepared for trials later this year.  Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) was recently christened, while Omaha (LCS 12) is being prepared for launch in the fall, and assembly is underway on Manchester (LCS 14). Modules for Tulsa (LCS 16) and Charleston (LCS 18) are under construction in Austal’s module manufacturing facility and construction of Cincinnati (LCS 20) is slated to begin later this year.

“The program continues to mature very well here, and each ship continues to improve as lessons-learned are incorporated real time,” said Perciavalle. “The momentum gained on this program is great to see and will position us well in the future.”

In addition to the LCS program, Austal is also under contract to build 10 joint high speed vessels (JHSVs) for the U.S. Navy. Five JHSVs have been delivered, with an additional three are in various stages of construction.