Austal launches future USS Augusta
The future USS Augusta being launched on 23 May. (Photo: Austal USA)
Sea trials of the latest Independence-variant LCS are scheduled for late 2022, even as the USN proposes to confine the vessels to mine countermeasure missions.
The 17th Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) vessel for the USN took to the water on 23 May, after shipbuilder Austal USA conducted a multi-step launch of the future USS Augusta (LCS 34).
Assisted by tugs, the 2,500t ship was escorted from the Austal USA floating dry dock in Mobile, Alabama, and secured pierside on the waterfront for machinery commissioning and system activation.
Sea trials will follow ‘later this year’, Austal USA noted in a statement. Augusta will then join her sister ships in the Pacific.
A total of 19 Independence-variant LCSs are on order from the USN, with five of these at various stages of construction.
However, Under President Joe Biden’s 2023 US DoD budget request, the USN plans to eliminate the LCS anti-submarine warfare mission due to technical challenges and the upcoming entry into service of the Constellation-class frigate.
The Independence-variant vessels will be devoted to mine countermeasure missions instead.
Related Programmes in Defence Insight
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Naval Warfare
-
![AUKUS settles into steadier waters as industrial pathways widen]()
AUKUS settles into steadier waters as industrial pathways widen
Sessions at UDT 2026 signalled that the AUKUS programme is pressing ahead at a steady pace – with trilateral commitment reaffirmed, Australian industrial capacity expanding and additive manufacturing emerging as an opportunity for suppliers.
-
![Latest Russian subsea standoff puts pressure on the UK’s seabed defence strategy]()
Latest Russian subsea standoff puts pressure on the UK’s seabed defence strategy
UK defence secretary John Healey’s exposure of a covert Russian deep-sea operation against undersea infrastructure in the Atlantic validates the Royal Navy’s Atlantic Bastion concept but lays bare a capacity gap that autonomous systems, allied integration and sustained investment must close.
-
![Could the USCG icebreaker requirement open the door for more inland shipbuilding?]()
Could the USCG icebreaker requirement open the door for more inland shipbuilding?
The formation of a Great Lakes shipbuilding alliance could prompt a shift in how the US approaches naval and coast guard construction. But can distributed inland shipyards ease the country’s shipbuilding capacity?
-
![US Navy bets on radio frequency to increase vessel protection against aerial threats]()
US Navy bets on radio frequency to increase vessel protection against aerial threats
A Northrop Grumman RF-based defensive capability will equip USN destroyers and aircraft carriers to enhance their survivability against missile and drone attacks.
