The US Navy has received its seventh littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Montgomery (LCS 8), from Austal-led team in a ceremony held at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.
USS Montgomery is the fourth Independence-variant LCS delivered to the navy.
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LCS programme manager captain Tom Anderson said: "Today marks a significant milestone in the life of the future USS Montgomery, an exceptional ship which will conduct anti-submarine, surface and mine countermeasures operations around the globe with ever increasing mission package capability.
"I look forward to seeing Montgomery join her sister ships in San Diego this fall and deploy next year."
USS Montgomery is expected to be commissioned in September this year. The delivery also marks the second vessel that Austal has delivered as the prime contractor.
Austal, which had earlier collaborated with General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems on the LCS programme, is under a 11-ship contract, worth more than $3.5bn.
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By GlobalDataCurrently, six additional LCSs are under construction in Mobile. USS Gabrielle Giffords, USS Omaha and USS Manchester are being prepared for trials, while USS Tulsa and USS Charleston are being assembled.
Construction of modules for USS Cincinnati is also underway at Austal’s module manufacturing facility.
The LCS class ships are being built in two variants, Freedom and Independence, by two industry teams led by Lockheed Martin and Austal respectively.
Image: USS Montgomery delivered to the US Navy. Photo: courtesy of US Navy file photo.
