GE Marine announces it has delivered two LM2500 marine aeroderivative gas turbines to Austal USA’s Mobile, Alabama, shipyard. These units will power the United States Navy’s Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship Jackson (LCS 6).
GE will provide 20 LM2500 gas turbines for the Austal USA LCS program, part of a contract for up to 10 ships over a five-year period. Similar to the previous two Austal-built LCS Independence and Coronado, Jackson will be powered by two LM2500s arranged in a CODAG configuration with two diesel engines. GE reports the successful completion of the main engine light-off on USS Coronado’s two LM2500 gas turbines; the ship was christened in January 2012. The commissioning ceremony for USS Independence was held on January 16, 2010.
The 127-meter aluminum trimaran LCS is an agile surface combatant that can be deployed independently to overseas littoral regions, can remain on station for an extended period either with a battle group or through a forward-basing arrangement, and is capable of underway replenishment.
All the LM2500 gas turbines for the Austal LCS program were or will be manufactured at GE’s Evendale, Ohio, facility.