Austal Limited is pleased to announce that the future USS Savannah (LCS-28) has successfully completed acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico. USS Savannah (LCS-28) is the 14th Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, for the United States Navy (USN).
Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the successful completion of acceptance trials by the future USS Savannah builds upon the great pride of the Austal USA team, following the recent commissioning of the USS Mobile (LCS-26) in Mobile, Alabama.
«The Austal USA team are quite rightly filled with pride and a collective sense of achievement following the recent commissioning of USS Mobile (LCS-26) in their home city, following the vessels delivery in December 2020», Mr. Gregg said.
«The successful completion of acceptance trials for Savannah, in the same week as the commissioning of Mobile, clearly demonstrates the capabilities of the Austal USA team to deliver multiple naval ship programs for the U.S. Navy, productively and efficiently».
Acceptance trials involve the execution of a number of tests by the Austal USA-led industry team while the vessel is underway; demonstrating to the United States Navy the successful operation of the ship’s major systems and equipment. The trials are the last significant milestone before delivery of the ship, scheduled for late June 2021.
The future USS Savannah (LCS-28) will be homeported in San Diego, with thirteen other Independence-class LCS.
The Independence-class LCS is a high-speed, shallow-draft surface combatant with an aluminium trimaran hull that provides class leading, multi-mission capability. These ships are designed to defeat growing littoral threats and provide access and dominance along coastal waters. A fast, maneuverable and networked surface-combatant, LCS provides the required warfighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute surface warfare, mine warfare and anti-submarine warfare missions.
Austal USA’s Independence-class LCS program continues at a full rate of production, with four ships currently under construction. The future USS Canberra (LCS-30) is in final assembly and will be christened on 5th June 2021; the USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32) is also in final assembly, while fabrication has begun on USS Augusta (LCS-34) and USS Kingsville (LCS-36). The future USS Pierre (LCS-38) will commence fabrication later in CY2021.
This ASX announcement has been approved and authorised for release by Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer, Paddy Gregg.
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 | 04-17-2021 | San Diego, California |
| USS Mobile (LCS-26) | 12-14-2018 | 01-11-2020 | 05-22-2021 | San Diego, California |
| USS Savannah (LCS-28) | 09-20-2018 | 09-08-2020 | ||
| USS Canberra (LCS-30) | 03-10-2020 | 03-30-2021 | ||
| USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32) | 10-27-2020 | |||
| USS Augusta (LCS-34) | ||||
| USS Kingsville (LCS-36) | ||||
| USS Pierre (LCS-38) |