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LCS Commissioning COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT / NEWS RELEASE 18 January 2010 FIRST AUSTAL LCS JOINS US NAVY FLEET Thousands attend historic commissioning ceremony Austal-designed and built Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), “USS Independence” officially joined the operating forces of the United States Navy at an historic commissioning ceremony held near Austal’s Mobile, Alabama facility yesterday. Thousands of Navy officials, politicians, industry delegates and spectators joined in welcoming “USS Independence” into the US Navy fleet, where it will serve as a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments. The ship is designed to defeat asymmetric "anti- access" threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. US Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughead, was the principal speaker at the ceremony, which marked the birth of a new breed of naval surface combatant. Utilising Austal’s proven low resistance trimaran hull form, “USS Independence” offers superior maneuverability and stability, endurance to travel 4,300 miles at 18 knots, three weapon zones, capacity for any two mission packages simultaneously, and a flight deck larger than any other surface combatant other than aircraft carriers. Austal Managing Director Bob Browning said the vessel would be an exciting addition to the US Navy’s fleet. “USS Independence is a new generation of combat ship. This technological leap in naval warfare will deliver significant advantages, not only in terms of increased capability, but also through vastly reduced operating costs over the life of the vessel,” Mr Browning said. For personal use only “For a shipbuilder that started in business in Australia just 21 years ago to successfully hand over such a revolutionary platform to the most powerful navy in the world is both a momentous achievement and an honour. This is definitely one of Austal’s proudest moments.” Page 1 of 2 The 127 metre all-aluminium vessel is capable of being outfitted with reconfigurable payloads (Mission Packages) which can be changed quickly to support mine countermeasure, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions. The vessel has a maximum speed of more than 45 knots. The performance benefits of the vessel’s trimaran hullform have been proven by the 127 metre “Benchijigua Express” which has been in commercial service in Spain since 2005. The hullform is also used for Austal’s next generation 102 metre trimaran ferry which was recently launched in Western Australia. Construction is already underway on Austal’s second US Navy LCS, “Coronado” which is expected to be delivered in 2012. Austal USA has also begun construction of the first Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) which will be named “Fortitude” (JHSV 1). As Prime contractor, Austal will design and build up to 10 of the 103 metre JHSVs between now and FY13 – five for the US Navy and five for the US Army. Austal expects to receive proposal requests by early next month from the US Navy for the next phase of the LCS program. The Navy is expected to announce the contract award decision by the end of US fiscal year 2010. As part of that proposal, the Navy has previously stated it intends to award a contract for up to ten LCS vessels, with two ships in fiscal 2010 and options through fiscal 2014. The US Defense budget includes US $1.38 billion for the procurement of the two fiscal 2010 vessels, and a cost cap of US $480 million for additional vessels through to fiscal 2014. Austal’s share of the value of each additional vessel is approximately 50 per cent. The LCS fleet is projected to eventually reach 55 ships. As part of the General Dynamics consortium for the LCS contract, Austal is the vessel designer and builder. The consortium is one of two teams competing in the LCS program. For further information contact: Austal, Public Relations Tel: +61 8 9410 1111 Fax: +61 8 9410 2564 Email: [email protected] Website: www.austal.com Background 1. For further information on the consortium visit http://www.gdlcs.com/ For personal use only 2. USS Independence will be homeported in San Diego as a part of the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet. 3. US Navy press releases on LCS 2 USS Independence can be found at http://www.navy.mil/local/lcs2/ 4. Following commissioning, Independence will conduct further testing and evaluation before eventually heading toward its homeport in San Diego. Page 2 of 2 .
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