Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Austal USA on a Roll: Delivers 4th Joint High Speed Vessel, Launches 4th Indepedence Class


The US Navy's (USN's) eighth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) has launched in Mobile, Alabama, and is undergoing final outfitting before activation in the first quarter of 2015, Austal USA officials told IHS Jane's on 14 August.

Montgomery (LCS 8), the USN's fourth Independence variant, entered the water for the first time on 6 August after being moved onto a floating dry dock - BAE Systems' Drydock Alabama . Montgomery is moored in the Mobile River where it will be completed and activated before conducting its first sea trials in the second quarter of 2015, Michelle Bowden, a spokesperson for Austal USA, told IHS Jane's .

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After recently completing acceptance trials, the US Navy's (USN's) fourth Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), Fall River (JHSV 4), is expected to be handed over to US Military Sealift Command (MSC) in the fourth quarter of 2014, shipbuilder Austal USA told IHS Jane's .

Fall River is the fourth of ten planned JHSVs to be built at the Mobile, Alabama-based shipyard under a USD1.6 billion contract. Launched in January 2014, the 103 m vessel conducted its tests and evaluations in the Gulf of Mexico under the auspices of the navy's Board of Inspection and Survey, completing the acceptance trials on 25 July.

Once the vessel is delivered to MSC - which operates the navy's auxiliaries and fleet support ships - a crew of 22 civilian mariners will take it through final contract trials and introduction to the fleet.

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