Article Posted on : - Aug 05, 2011

Independence-Class Littoral Combat Ship

MOBILE, ALABAMA (BNS): Construction of US Navy’s sixth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 6) USS Jackson has begun at a shipyard in Alabama.

Work started with the first cutting of aluminum for the warship at shipbuilder Austral’s Mobile shipyard on August 1.

“The littoral combat ship is a key part of our future fleet and demands the very best skill and effort from government and industry teams,” Programme Executive Officer for Littoral Combat Ships (PEO LCS) Rear Adm. James Murdoch said.

“The commencement of production of LCS 6 marks another significant milestone in the programme, and demonstrates the efficiency benefits of our ‘block buy’ arrangements with the ship builders. These fixed-price contracts ensure cost efficiency in the programme and best value for the taxpayer,” he said.

USS Jackson is the third LCS being built by Austal for the US Navy. The company has already built and delivered LCS 2, USS Independence, and constructing LCS 4, USS Coronado, which is scheduled to be delivered in 2012.

The company had received a contract worth over US$3.5 billion in 2010 to build 10 LCSs for the US Navy.

The LCS is envisioned to be a versatile, networked, agile, surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals.

The US Navy intends to procure a total of 55 Littoral Combat Ships for multi-mission support.

The Navy has also contracted Lockheed Martin to build the warships.