US Warship Completes Acceptance Trials
The fourth Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) built by Austal for the U.S. Navy, the future USS Montgomery (LCS 8), has completed its acceptance trials May 6, 2016, in the Gulf of Mexico, marking the final significant milestone before the ship’s delivery, which is expected soon.
According to the shipbuilder, this achievement involved the execution of intense comprehensive tests by the Austal-led industry team while underway, which demonstrated to the Navy the successful operation of the ship’s major systems and equipment. While underway, the ship performed launch and recovery operations of the 11-meter rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB), a four-hour full power run, surface and air self-defense detect-to-engage exercises and demonstrated the ship's maneuverability performing tight turns and accomplishing speeds in excess of 40 knots.
Craig Perciavalle, President of Austal USA, said, “With seven LCS under construction, our focus on leveraging lessons learned from ship to ship is sharp. The momentum gained on this program is great to see and will position us well in the future.”
Austal USA is currently building seven ships for the LCS program. Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) and Omaha (LCS 12) are preparing for trials. Manchester (LCS 14) was recently christened and launched. Final assembly is well underway on Tulsa (LCS 16) and modules for Charleston (LCS 18) and Cincinnati (LCS 20) are under construction in Austal’s module manufacturing facility.
