Kansas City LCS completes acceptance trials
The US Navy’s future USS Kansas City (LCS 22) has successfully completed acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico, Austal announced on 4 November.
Kansas City is the eleventh Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), designed and built by Austal.
During acceptance trials the vessel was put through comprehensive testing by an Austal USA-led industry team to demonstrate to the navy the successful operation of the ship’s major systems and equipment.
It is the last significant milestone before delivery of the ship, which is due to take place before the end of 2019.
The Independence-class LCS programme is at a full rate of production, with five ships currently under construction. Oakland (LCS 24) has recently launched and is preparing for trials, while final assembly is well underway on Mobile (LCS 26) and Savannah (LCS 28). Modules for Canberra (LCS 30) are under construction in the module manufacturing facility, and construction on the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) began in October.
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