USN orders five additional LCU 1700 craft
LCU 1700 landing craft. (Photo: Swiftships)
Work on building LCU 1707 to LCU 1711 will be completed by November 2023.
Swiftships is building five more Landing Craft Utility (LCU) 1700 class craft for the USN, after receiving a $59.28 million contract modification from Naval Sea Systems Command.
Work on LCU 1707 to LCU 1711 will be completed by November 2023, the DoD announced on 7 May.
The original LCU 1700 contract for Swiftships in 2018 included options for the construction of up to 31 craft to replace the LCU 1610 class, with the last delivery expected in 2027.
According to Shephard Defence Insight, craft in the LCU 1700 class are each 42.4m long with a beam of 9.4m, a draught of 1.3m and a full load displacement of 434.9t.
Powered by two diesel propulsion with Kort nozzles providing 500hp sustained with twin shafts, the craft have a maximum speed of 11kt and a range of 1200nmi at 8kt with a crew of 13.
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Landing Craft Utility (LCU) 1700 [USN]
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