Thursday, February 06, 2014

USS America Finishes Sea Trials



The lead ship of the US Navy's (USN's) new aviation-focused amphibious assault ship class has completed acceptance sea trials, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) officials announced on 4 February.

America (LHA 6) conducted three days of trials in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pascagoula, Mississippi, where the 257.3 m-long ship was constructed by Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.

During the sea trials, which were evaluated by the USN's Board of Inspection and Survey, America performed more than 220 tests of its major ship systems. The vessel returned to Ingalls on 31 January.

Featuring a flight deck, hangar space, and aviation maintenance facilities optimised for the US Marine Corps' F-35B Lightning II short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter and the MV-22 Osprey, America is expected to be ready for handover in the second quarter of 2014.

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