Austal Limited has won a US$11,239,032 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification from the US Navy to provide emergent availability planning and full ship shock trials (FSST) support for tests to be conducted on Littoral Combat Ship USS Jackson (LCS 6).
“Specifically, Austal USA will plan for and conduct any “in-between shot” repairs required during the FSST event(s), repair any damage sustained during the FSST period and coordinate the removal of FSST testing equipment and instrumentation following completion of the trials,” the company said in a media release.
“The FFST comprise a series of tests designed to demonstrate the ship’s ability to withstand the effects of nearby underwater explosions and retain required capability. USS Jackson has successfully completed the first of three trials and is performing as expected.”
Austal delivered USS Jackson (LCS 6) to the US Navy on 11th August 2015 and delivered the future USS Montgomery (LCS 8) last week.
The company is currently constructing six additional Independent-variant LCS at its facility in Mobile, Alabama as part of an 11-ship contract worth over US$3.5 billion from the US Navy.
The future USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), Omaha (LCS 12) and Manchester (LCS 14) are all preparing for sea trials.
According to the company, assembly is well underway on Tulsa (LCS 16) and Charleston (LCS 18) while modules for Cincinnati (LCS 20) are under construction in its industry-leading module manufacturing facility (MMF).