Future USS Kingsville Completes Acceptance Trials
Defense News ,USA :- Austal USA has successfully concluded acceptance trials for the US Navy's future littoral combat ship, USS Kingsville (LCS 36), marking a significant milestone in the vessel's evaluation process. The trials, conducted in the Gulf of Mexico, included a comprehensive series of tests to assess the ship's equipment and capabilities, ensuring compliance with the stringent shipbuilding standards set by the US Department of Defense.
Facilitated in collaboration with the US Navy Board of Inspection and Survey, the acceptance trials demonstrated the vessel's readiness for operational deployment. Austal USA New Construction Programs VP Dave Growden expressed pride in the achievement, highlighting the successful start to 2024 for Austal USA. He commended the efforts of Austal USA shipbuilders, vendors, and Navy collaborators, emphasizing their coordinated work in preparing the ship for delivery in the coming weeks.
USS Kingsville, an Independence-class vessel, is the 18th in its series designed for operations in near-shore and open ocean battlefields. The ship boasts a range of advanced capabilities, including electronic warfare systems, automatic naval guns, Bushmaster chain guns, Naval Strike Missiles, and Hellfire missiles. With a remarkable speed of 44 knots (81 kilometers/51 miles per hour), the warship can accommodate aircraft such as the UH-60 Black Hawk maritime variant Seahawk and MQ-9 Fire Scout drones.
Some Additional specifications of the USS Kingsville:
- Displacement: 3,104 metric tons (full load)
- Length: 418 feet (127 m)
- Beam: 104 feet (32 m)
- Draft: 14 feet (4.3 m)
- Propulsion: 2 Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines, 2 Cummins QSK-38 diesels, 4 Rolls-Royce Kamewa waterjets
- Range: 4,900 nautical miles (9,100 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
- Complement: 75 (40 crew, 35 mission package personnel)
- Armament:
- 1 BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun
- 1 Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) for 11 RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM)
- 4 M2HB .50 caliber machine guns
The vessel's acceptance trials followed its christening ceremony in April 2023 at Austal's Mobile shipyard in Alabama. The successful trials reinforce Austal USA's commitment to delivering high-performance naval assets to the US Navy. Notably, the recent delivery of USNS Cody (EPF 14) further contributes to the company's accomplishments in the early months of 2024. Austal USA's collaboration with Lockheed Martin on the Freedom-class LCS, a parallel version of the Independence systems, underscores the continued advancements in naval technology and capabilities within the US defense sector.
