Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship Coronado (LCS 4) was delivered to the Navy on September 27, after successfully completing Acceptance Trials (AT) at the end of August. Coronado is the second Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship that has been delivered to the Navy. The delivery ceremony took place on Coronado’s flight deck and was attended by personnel from the LCS Squadron in San Diego, SUPSHIP Gulf Coast, Coronado Crew (both Blue and Gold), the Navy program office, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (the prime contractor), General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, and Austal.

Craig Perciavalle, President of Austal USA, remarked: “We are proud to deliver this incredible warship to our great Navy, especially in knowing just how important this program is to the Fleet. This milestone could not have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of the incredible shipbuilders here at Austal, as well as our partners from General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, and the Navy, all of whom should be so very proud of this significant accomplishment.”

The LCS program is in full swing at Austal USA with four other ships under construction at this time. Coronado (LCS 4) will soon be followed by Jackson (LCS 6) which will launch at the end of the year. Construction is well underway on Montgomery (LCS 8) and Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10). Omaha (LCS 12) started construction just in the last month.

Perciavalle continued, “We are pleased with how the LCS program is maturing as we remain focused on continuously improving our processes to provide the most cost-effective, yet extremely capable and flexible warship that can adjust to the ever-changing requirements of the battlespace.”

Austal is the largest manufacturing employer in the area, with over 3,700 shipbuilders, an increase of 3,000 in just a few short years. In addition, there are 1,146 suppliers from 32 states that support the Independence-variant LCS program.

The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. This vessel is the second of 12, 127-meter Independence-variant LCS class ships Austal has been contracted to build for the U.S. Navy (including USS Independence (LCS 2), delivered to the Navy in 2009). The final 10 of the 12 were awarded to Austal as prime contractor subsequent to a $3.5 billion block buy in 2010.

Austal’s teaming partner, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (a business unit of General Dynamics) is the ship systems integrator, responsible for the design, integration and testing of the navigation systems, C4I, and aviation systems. The ships’ highly flexible open architecture computing infrastructure (OPEN CI), designed, developed, and integrated by General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, allows “plug and play” integration of both the core systems and the LCS mission modules. It is designed to the Navy’s open architecture requirements, strictly adheres to published industry standards and facilitates the integration of commercially available products.

Austal has also been contracted by the U.S. Navy to build ten, 103-meter JHSVs under a 10-ship, $1.6 billion contract. Two of the ten have already been delivered. Austal continues to make steady forward progress on the JHSV program as USNS Millinocket (JHSV 3) prepares for Builder’s Sea Trials in the fall and will be delivered to the Navy later this year. Construction on Fall River (JHSV 4) and Trenton (JHSV 5) is also well underway in Austal’s Mobile, Ala. shipyard.

ENDS

About Austal

Austal is a global defense prime contractor. The Company designs, constructs and maintains revolutionary platforms such as the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) for the U.S. Navy, as well as an extensive range of patrol and auxiliary vessels for defense forces and government agencies globally. Austal also designs, installs, integrates and maintains sophisticated communications, radar and command and control systems.

Austal benefits from its position as a world leader in the design, construction and support of customized, high-performance aluminum vessels for the commercial high-speed ferry market, an achievement gained over a period of nearly 25 years.

Austal’s primary facilities comprise a dedicated defense shipyard in Mobile, Ala.; a dedicated defense shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia; and a dedicated commercial shipyard in Balamban, Philippines. The Company also provides vessel support services from its facilities in the United States, Australia, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Learn more