Ship Manufacturing Facility News

Austal USA has received its first order for components supporting construction of a US Navy Columbia-class submarine.The order, from General Dynamics Electric Boat (Electric Boat), is for fabrication of the Command and Control Systems Module (CCSM) for the third ship in the Columbia-class program (SSBN 828).This order represents a significant expansion in the capabilities Austal USA has been providing to the submarine industrial base since February 2023.The purchase order, with a value of up $12.8 million…

Austal USA began construction on the Navy’s Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock Medium (AFDM) at the company’s Gulf Coast ship manufacturing facility last week. AFDM is the third program to begin construction on Austal USA’s steel assembly line following T-ATS 11 and 12 - the first two of four U.S. Navy Towing, Salvage, and Rescue (T-ATS) ships the company is under contract to build. The AFDM is a “Rennie”-type floating dry dock which means it has continuous wing walls and several sectional…

Austal USA hosted the christening of the future USS Oakland (LCS 24). This is the first of three U.S. Navy ships to be christened at Austal’s state-of-the-art ship manufacturing facility in 2019.Oakland is the 12th of 19 Independence-variant littoral combat ships (LCSs) Austal USA has under contract with the U.S. Navy. The ship’s sponsor, Kate Brandt, a recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest award the U.S. Navy can give to a civilian, headlined the group of officials…

Austal USA won a construction contract by the U.S. Navy Friday to build an additional Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship, its fifteenth ship in the class. The award of LCS 30 is a clear sign of the Navy’s confidence in Austal’s LCS program. The specific value of the contract is under the congressional cost cap of $584 million per ship. The littoral combat ship has been identified as a key component to the Navy’s ability to gain sea control through distributed lethality. Austal USA employs 4,000 people at its headquarters and ship manufacturing facility in Mobile, Ala., while its supplier network includes over 2,200 businesses across 43 states.

Austal USA said it was awarded a $326 million contract to built the 11th and 12th Expeditionary Fast Transport ships (EPF) for the U.S. Navy. This new contract adds upon a 2008 fully-funded EPF 10-ship block-buy agreement and brings Austal’s current build to a 12 ship program valued at $1.9 billion, and thereby extending the shipbuilder’s production under contract into 2022. Austal USA’s EPF program has seen seven ships delivered so far, with three more under construction at its headquarters and ship manufacturing facility in Mobile, Ala.

The U.S. Navy has modified Austal USA’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) block-buy contract to include an eleventh ship, LCS 26, the Navy announced today. LCS 26 will be the 13th Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship built by Austal. “The Austal LCS team has demonstrated exceptional work in providing an affordable sea frame that is not only capable of meeting the Navy’s needs of today but extremely capable of meeting future requirements,” Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said.

Austal celebrated the keel-laying milestone for the Expeditionary Fast Transport vessel Yuma (EPF 8) here today with a ceremony marking a significant milestone in the ship’s construction. This ship is the eighth EPF built at Austal under the 10-ship, $1.6 billion block-buy contract awarded to Austal in 2008. Laying the keel is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. The keel runs lengthwise down the middle of the ship serving as the basic foundation or spine of the structure, providing the major source of the hull’s strength. The Honorable Douglas Nicholls, Mayor of the City of Yuma, Ariz., authenticated the keel at the ceremony by welding his initials onto an aluminum keel plate that will eventually be placed in ship’s hull.

Austal Limited has been awarded $14.656 million in modifications to a previously awarded Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contract by the U.S. Department of Defense. Under the contract, Austal USA will perform planning and implementation of deferred design changes that have been identified during the construction period. The corrections and upgrades are necessary to support sail-away and follow-on post-delivery test and trials period. The cost-plus contract modifications exercise options…

Austal USA has been awarded a contract for $51,684,797 to its 10-ship $3.5 billion Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contract for the U.S. Navy. This contract modification is expected to increase to $198,385,545 over three years if options are exercised. This work includes design services for upgrades to the LCS and preliminary design for the U.S. Navy’s future Frigate. facility in Mobile, Ala. “This work lays a solid foundation for our growing support business and will continue to grow as these ships deliver and enter the fleet,” said Perciavalle. Austal’s LCS and Frigate design services consist of special studies supporting engineering design and trade-offs…

Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove signed legislation yesterday authorizing proceeds from the sale of $48 million in bonds for Northrop Grumman Corporation's Ship Systems sector to expand and modernize the company's Ingalls Operations in Pascagoula, Miss. As part of the partnership with the state, Northrop Grumman is allocating $96 million in capital funds to the project at Ingalls Operations and also its Gulfport Operations in Gulfport, Miss. The ceremony for the bill signing was held aboard Pinckney (DDG 91), one of the Aegis guided missile destroyers being built at Pascagoula. "The image of Mississippi in 2003 is unlike anything anyone could have imagined," Gov. Musgrove said.