Navy Awards Austal $691M for Two Littoral Combat Ships

Posted by Josh Keefe April 1, 2015

A littoral combat ship built by Austal (photo courtesy of Austal)

The U.S. Navy has ordered two new littoral combat ships from Austal, the shipbuilder said in a press release today. The two orders, worth $691 million, are part of the Navy's expansion of a previous block buy contract with Austal to 10 total ships, with the option to award an eleventh ship in FY 2016.

The Navy also awarded a $441 million contract to Lockheed Martin for one LCS, U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) News reported.

“The Navy’s confidence in Austal’s ability to continue to produce these incredible ships only serves to increase the level of pride and dedication that Austal USA and our employees exhibit daily while working to meet the needs of our sailors,” Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said in a statement. “The success of this program is a direct result of great teamwork with our suppliers and the full support of our local, state, and federal legislators.”

The option, if exercised, would bring the total of the Independence-variant LCS program vessels built by Austal to 13 ships, including 11 ships as the prime contractor, the company said in statement. The ships will be built at Austal's Montgomery, AL shipyard.

Austal’s Independence-variant LCS program is maturing rapidly and gaining momentum with seven ships under various stages of construction, including Jackson (LCS 6) which has begun sea trials and is preparing for delivery this summer. Montgomery (LCS 8) is preparing for sea trials and delivery by the end of the year.

Austal has also been contracted by the U.S. Navy to build ten 103-meter Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV) under a 10-ship, $1.6 billion block buy contract, four of which have already been delivered. USNS Trenton (JHSV 5) recently successfully completed acceptance trials and is scheduled to be delivered in April. Three additional JHSVs are also under construction at Austal’s Mobile shipyard.

Austal also made headlines in Australia yesterday by announcing it was reducing its workforce in Western Australia by 300 after completing a contract to build eight patrol boats for Australia and two high-speed support vessels for Oman.