The U.S. Navy received USS Gabrielle Giffords, littoral combat ship number ten, during a ceremony held at Austal’s Mobile, Alabama shipyard.
The future USS Gabrielle Giffords is the fifth Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) delivered to the USN since 2009 and the fourth naval vessel delivered to the USN by Austal USA in 2016.
Austal delivered littoral combat ships (LCS 8 and 10) and two expeditionary fast transport ships (EPF 6 and 7) in 2016.
The 127 metre frigate-sized littoral combat ships are constructed in Mobile, Alabama.
Announcing the delivery, Austal chief executive officer David Singleton said: “Gabrielle Giffords joins Independence, Coronado, Jackson and Montgomery as the fifth Littoral Combat Ship Austal USA has delivered to the US Navy.”
“The Independence-variant LCS platform has gone from strength to strength, as the first LCS variant to be fitted with a Harpoon Anti-ship Missile System and the first US Navy class of vessel to successfully pass shock testing since 2008,” Singleton added.
Six additional Independence-variant LCS are under construction at Austal USA under an 11 ship contract worth approximately US$4 billion. The future USS Omaha (LCS 12) and Manchester (LCS 14) are preparing for sea-trials, Tulsa (LCS 16) and Charleston (LCS 18) are in assembly and modules for Cincinnati (LCS 20) and Kansas City (LCS 22) are underway in the MMF.
Austal delivered USS Jackson (LCS 6) in August 2015 and USS Montgomery (LCS 8) in June 2016.