Littoral Combat Ship TULSA (LCS 16) Completes Acceptance Trials
MOBILE, Ala. – Tulsa (LCS 16), the eighth Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) built by Austal, successfully completed acceptance trials March 08 in the Gulf of Mexico.
This milestone 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. Acceptance trials are the last significant milestone before delivery of the ship. LCS 16 will be the second Independence-variant LCS Austal delivers to the Navy in 2018.
“Littoral combat ships are just rolling off the assembly line at Austal, one after another in quick succession with each one better than the last,” commented Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle. “We handed LCS 14 over to the Navy at the end of February and now we’re ready to deliver the next one – a testament to the incredible shipbuilding team here at Austal USA along with General Dynamics Mission Systems and the many local and national suppliers whose commitment and hard work have played such an important role in accomplishing this milestone.”
Austal has delivered seven Independence-variant LCS, six of which, are currently homeported at the San Diego Navy Base. The future USS Manchester (LCS 14) will leave Mobile soon and sail up to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, NH where she’ll be commissioned before heading west to San Diego.
Perciavalle went on to say, “We are excited to see all of the important contributions that our ships have been making to the Fleet and we stand ready with capacity now to efficiently build the Navy our nation needs while being able to support an aggressive growth plan to a 355 ship fleet.”
The LCS program is at full rate production and is continuing its momentum at Austal USA with several ships currently under construction including Tulsa. Charleston (LCS 18) is preparing for trials. Final assembly is well underway on Cincinnati (LCS 20) and Kansas City (LCS 22). Modules for Oakland (LCS 24) and the future USS Mobile (LCS 26) are under construction in the module manufacturing facility.
