Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) installed the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) suite aboard the afloat forward staging base variant of the mobile landing platform USNS Lewis B. Puller (MLP 3/AFSB) following recently completed acceptance trials.
Project Engineer Richard Childress said the C4I installation efforts were successfully completed to support this first-purpose built afloat forward staging base (AFSB) on the mobile landing platform (MLP). It is the third of five total MLPs planned to augment amphibious assault ships.
The AFSB variant of the MLP, managed by the Strategic Sealift Program Office in Program Executive Office, Ships, is based on the design of the Alaska-class oil tanker and includes a flight deck for maritime air operations. It is slated to replace the USS Ponce (AFSB 1), the U.S. Navy’s interim AFSB in the Arabian Gulf.
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Image: US Navy