Austal Limited is pleased to announce that Littoral Combat Ship 6 (LCS-6), the future USS Jackson, has successfully completed U.S. Navy acceptance trials. The trials, the last significant milestone before delivery, were undertaken in the Gulf of Mexico and involved comprehensive testing of the vessel’s major systems and equipment by the U.S. Navy.
Austal Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bellamy said it was pleasing that acceptance trials on LCS-6 had been successfully completed. «The LCS program is maturing into an efficient phase of construction. Completion of our first Acceptance Trial on LCS-6 as the prime contractor is a significant and important milestone for Austal. This program is steadily gaining momentum heading towards a smooth transition from LCS to frigate», Mr. Bellamy said.
After delivery of LCS-6, Austal will deliver a further nine Littoral Combat Ships from its shipyard at Mobile, Alabama, under a 10-ship, $3.5 billion block-buy contract from the U.S. Navy. Of those, Montgomery (LCS-8) is preparing for trials and delivery later this year. Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) was recently christened. Final assembly is well underway on Omaha (LCS-12) and Manchester (LCS-14). Modules for Tulsa (LCS-16) and Charleston (LCS-18) are under construction in Austal’s module manufacturing facility.
The Independence Variant of the LCS Class
| PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS | |
| Construction | Hull and superstructure – aluminium alloy |
| Length overall | 417 feet/127.1 m |
| Beam overall | 103 feet/31.4 m |
| Hull draft (maximum) | 14.8 feet/4.5 m |
| PAYLOAD AND CAPACITIES | |
| Complement | Core Crew – 40 |
| Mission crew – 36 | |
| Berthing | 76 in a mix of single, double & quad berthing compartments |
| Maximum mission load | 210 tonnes |
| Mission Bay Volume | 118,403 feet3/11,000 m3 |
| Mission packages | Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) |
| Surface Warfare (SUW) | |
| Mine Warfare (MIW) | |
| PROPULSION | |
| Main engines | 2 × GE LM2500 |
| 2 × MTU 20V 8000 | |
| Waterjets | 4 × Wartsila steerable |
| Bow thruster | Retractable azimuthing |
| PERFORMANCE | |
| Speed | 40 knots/46 mph/74 km/h |
| Range | 3,500 NM/4,028 miles/6,482 km |
| Operational limitation | Survival in Sea State 8 |
| MISSION/LOGISTICS DECK | |
| Deck area | >21,527.8 feet2/2,000 m2 |
| Launch and recovery | Twin boom extending crane |
| Loading | Side ramp |
| Internal elevator to hanger | |
| Launch/Recover Watercraft | Sea State 4 |
| FLIGHT DECK AND HANGER | |
| Flight deck dimensions | 2 × SH-60 or 1 × CH-53 or multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Vertical Take-off and Land Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs/VTUAVs) |
| Hanger | Aircraft stowage & maintenance for 2 × SH-60 |
| Launch/Recover Aircraft | Sea State 5 |
| WEAPONS AND SENSORS | |
| Standard | 1 × 57-mm gun |
| 4 × 12.7-mm/.50 caliber guns | |
| 1 × Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) launcher | |
| 3 × weapons modules | |
