Austal Limited is pleased to announce that Austal USA has delivered its 13th Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to the U.S. Navy, from the company’s shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.
The future USS Mobile (LCS-26) is the fourth ship delivered by Austal USA to the U.S. Navy in CY2020, following the delivery of USS Kansas City (LCS-22) in February, USS Oakland (LCS-24) in June and USNS Newport (EPF-12) in September.
Austal Chief Executive Officer David Singleton said the delivery of the future USS Mobile, in Mobile, was a very fitting way to finish the year 2020.
«What better way to end this challenging year than with the delivery of the future USS Mobile in its namesake city. This ship is a fantastic tribute to the spirit and determination of the people of Austal USA and the City of Mobile», Mr. Singleton said.
«Our warmest congratulations to the U.S. Navy on the delivery of their latest Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship; another great symbol of the success of the United States defence industrial base and a highly capable addition to the fleet».
The Independence-class LCS is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric «anti-access» threats, such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The 127 metre high-speed trimaran hull warship integrates new technology and capability to support current and future mission capability from deep water to the littorals.
Four LCSs are presently under various stages of construction at Austal USA’s Mobile, Alabama shipyard; Assembly continues on the future USS Savannah (LCS-28) and USS Canberra (LCS-30), while modules for the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32), USS Augusta (LCS-34) are under construction in the module manufacturing facility (MMF). The future USS Kingsville (LSC-36) USS Pierre (LCS-38) are under contract.
Austal USA is also under contract to build 14 Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels (EPF) for the U.S. Navy, with 12 vessels delivered, an additional vessel under construction and one scheduled.
The Independence Variant of the LCS
| PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS | |
| Construction | Hull and superstructure – aluminium alloy |
| Length overall | 421 feet/128.3 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 | |
Independence-class
| Ship | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| USS Independence (LCS-2) | 01-19-2006 | 04-26-2008 | 01-16-2010 | San Diego, California |
| USS Coronado (LCS-4) | 12-17-2009 | 01-14-2012 | 04-05-2014 | San Diego, California |
| USS Jackson (LCS-6) | 08-01-2011 | 12-14-2013 | 12-05-2015 | San Diego, California |
| USS Montgomery (LCS-8) | 06-25-2013 | 08-06-2014 | 09-10-2016 | San Diego, California |
| USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) | 04-16-2014 | 02-25-2015 | 06-10-2017 | San Diego, California |
| USS Omaha (LCS-12) | 02-18-2015 | 11-20-2015 | 02-03-2018 | San Diego, California |
| USS Manchester (LCS-14) | 06-29-2015 | 05-12-2016 | 05-26-2018 | San Diego, California |
| USS Tulsa (LCS-16) | 01-11-2016 | 03-16-2017 | 02-16-2019 | San Diego, California |
| USS Charleston (LCS-18) | 06-28-2016 | 09-14-2017 | 03-02-2019 | San Diego, California |
| USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) | 04-10-2017 | 05-22-2018 | 10-05-2019 | San Diego, California |
| USS Kansas City (LCS-22) | 11-15-2017 | 10-19-2018 | 06-20-2020 | San Diego, California |
| USS Oakland (LCS-24) | 07-20-2018 | 07-21-2019 | San Diego, California | |
| USS Mobile (LCS-26) | 12-14-2018 | 01-11-2020 | ||
| USS Savannah (LCS-28) | 09-20-2018 | 09-08-2020 | ||
| USS Canberra (LCS-30) | 03-10-2020 | |||
| USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32) | 10-27-2020 | |||
| USS Augusta (LCS-34) | ||||
| USS Kingsville (LCS-36) | ||||
| USS Pierre (LCS-38) |