Austal Launches LCS

MOBILE, Ala. — Austal USA of Mobile launched the 17th Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the future USS Augusta (LCS 34), on May 23. Assisted by tugs, the ship was escorted out of Austal’s floating dry dock and secured pierside on the waterfront for machinery commissioning and system activation in preparation for sea trials later this year. The launch was a multistep process that involved lifting the 2,500-mT ship almost 3 ft in the air, moving it approximately 400 ft onto a moored deck barge adjacent to the assembly bay, then transferring the LCS from the deck barge to a floating dry dock. This LCS is the 17th of 19 Independence variants Austal is building for the U.S. Navy. Four are under various stages of construction.