The U.S. Navy has awarded the Australian shipbuilding company Austal a US$13.97 million modification to a previously awarded Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contract for special studies, analyses and review efforts for the Littoral Combat Ship Program.
Austal said it would be providing engineering and design services to reduce acquisition and lifecycle costs for the Independence variant LCS.
This is the second $14 million contract for the company this month.
Austal was awarded $14.656 million in LCS modifications, Mar. 2, to perform planning and implementation of design changes identified during construction periods. The corrections and upgrades support sail-away and follow-on post-delivery test and trial periods.
The shipbuilder has a US$3.5 billion block-buy contract from the U.S. Navy to build 10 Littoral Combat Ships and a separate US$1.6 billion block-buy contract from the U.S Navy to build 10 Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels (EPF). Seven LCS and three EPF are currently under construction in Austal’s Mobile, Alabama, ship manufacturing facility.