SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley (WPC-1117) repatriated 44 Dominican migrants and transferred them to Dominican naval authorities June 28 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, following the interdiction of two illegal migrant voyages June 25 and 26 in the Mona Passage, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a June 28 release.

Six other
migrants interdicted in both voyages are facing possible federal prosecution in
Puerto Rico on charges of attempted illegal re-entry into the United States.

The
interdictions are the result of ongoing efforts in support of Operation Unified
Resolve, Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group
(CBIG). Since October 2018, the Coast Guard and CBIG federal and state partner
agencies have interdicted over 1,573 migrants at sea near Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Islands.

The first
interdiction took place the night of June 25 after the crew of a Customs and
Border Protection DHC-8 maritime patrol aircraft detected a 25-foot migrant boat
transiting toward Puerto Rico, approximately 17 nautical miles north-northwest
of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

Coast Guard
watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted the cutter Donald Horsley to
interdict the suspect vessel. Upon arriving on scene, the Donald Horsley crew
stopped the blue makeshift boat with 25 Dominican migrants aboard — 19 men and
five women, and a 16-year-old boy. Horsley crewmembers proceeded to embark all
the migrants from the makeshift boat.

The crew of
the DHC-8 maritime patrol aircraft detected a second illegal migrant voyage on
the night of June 26, approximately nine nautical miles north of Mona Island.

Coast Guard
watchstanders in Sector San Juan diverted the cutter Donald Horsley to
interdict the suspect vessel. Upon arriving on scene, the Donald Horsley crew
stopped the 35-foot blue fiberglass boat with 25 adult Dominican migrants
aboard — 20 men and five women. Horsley crewmembers embarked all the migrants
for safety of life at sea.

Once aboard a
Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical
attention.

“I am
extremely proud of the crew of cutter Donald Horsley for their tremendous
efforts which culminated in the interdiction of 50 migrants during two
different cases this week,” said Lt. Christopher Martin, Coast Guard Cutter
Donald Horsley commanding officer. “These illicit ventures put migrants in
extremely dangerous situations at sea and our crew along with our other DHS
partners did an excellent job detecting and intercepting these vessels to stem
the flow of illegal migration to Puerto Rico and ensure the safety of all the
migrants involved in these voyages.”

The cutter
Donald Horsley transferred custody of the six migrants facing federal
prosecution to Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

The CBIG
unifies efforts between U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast
Guard, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Attorney’s
Office for the District of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of
Rapid Action. These agencies share a common goal of securing the maritime
border of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands against illegal migrant and
drug smuggling threats.

The cutter
Donald Horsley is a 154-foot fast-response cutter homeported in San Juan,
Puerto Rico.

ARLINGTON,
Va., and MOBILE, Ala.— The U.S. Navy christened its newest Independence-variant
littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Oakland (LCS 24), during a June 29
ceremony in Mobile, Alabama, the ship’s builder, Austal USA, said in a release
of the same date.

U.S. Rep. Ken
Calvert of California delivered the christening ceremony’s principal address.
Kate Brandt, Google’s sustainability officer, served as the ship’s sponsor.

“The
christening of the future USS Oakland marks an important step toward this great
ship’s entry into the fleet,” said Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer in a
June 26 Navy Office of Information release. “The dedication and skilled
work of our industry partners ensure this ship will represent the great city of
Oakland and serve our Navy and Marine Corps team for decades to come.”

“I’m proud to
represent Austal’s amazing workforce today as we commemorate a significant
milestone in the life of this amazing warship,” said Austal USA President Craig
Perciavalle. “Our talented shipbuilding team is proud to provide our Navy with
an extraordinarily capable vessel that will honor the great city of Oakland as
she becomes an integral part of the U.S. naval fleet protecting our nation.”

The ship’s
sponsor, Kate Brandt, a recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award,
the highest award the U.S. Navy can give to a civilian, headlined the group of
officials, naval guests, civic leaders, community members and Austal USA
employees who attended the ceremony beneath the hull of the ship in Austal
USA’s final assembly bay.  

“We are
honored to host Ms. Brandt as the ship’s sponsor,” continued Perciavalle. “Her
time spent serving our country through her work for the government,
specifically the Navy, and her dedication to green initiatives protecting the
environment make her a clear choice as the sponsor of Oakland.”

As Google’s
sustainability officer, Brandt leads sustainability across Google’s worldwide
operations, products and supply chain. Previously Brandt served as the nation’s
first chief sustainability officer, where she was responsible for promoting
sustainability across federal government operations including 360,000
buildings, 650,000 vehicles, and $445 billion annually in purchased goods and
services. Brandt’s prior government service also includes senior adviser at the
Department of Energy, director for Energy and Environment in the White House
Office of Presidential Personnel, and energy adviser to the Secretary of the
Navy.

A Gates
Cambridge Scholar who graduated with honors from Brown University, Brandt
currently serves on the boards of The Institute at Brown for Environment and
Society, The Roosevelt Institute, Planet Forward, and the Stanford
International Affairs Network.

The future
USS Oakland is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation
in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed
to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet
diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The ship will be homeported in San
Diego.

The LCS class
consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant,
designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by
Lockheed Martin in Marinette, Wisconsin (for the odd-numbered hulls). The
Independence variant team is led by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama (for LCS 6
and subsequent even-numbered hulls).

The future
USS Oakland is the third U.S. Navy ship named for the city in California. The
first Oakland (2847) was commissioned in 1918 and used for cargo transport. The
second, CL 95, was commissioned in 1942, and during seven years of service, it
played a key role in many antiaircraft missions across the Asia-Pacific theater
of operations.

Oakland is
the 12th of 19 Independence-variant littoral combat ships Austal USA has under
contract with the U.S. Navy. In addition to being in full-rate production for
the LCS program, Austal USA is also the Navy’s prime contractor for the
Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) program. Austal has delivered 10 EPF, with a
total of 14 under contract.

ST.
PETERSBURG, Fla. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Venturous (WMEC-625)
returned home to St. Petersburg June 27 following a 62-day patrol in the
Caribbean Sea, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release of the same date.

Venturous’
crew spent the first three weeks of the patrol at Naval Station Mayport for
their biennial Tailored Ship’s Training Availability, which is designed to test
the crew’s ability to respond to various operations and shipboard emergencies.

After
departing Mayport, the Venturous crew transited over 7,000 miles while
operating in the Caribbean Sea enforcing international laws and treaties in
support of the Coast Guard’s Western Hemisphere Strategy by countering
transnational organized criminal networks and deterring human smuggling while
safeguarding life at sea.

On June 12th,
the crew of the Venturous partnered with rotary and fixed wing aircraft from
Coast Guard Air Stations Clearwater and Miami and Royal Bahamian Defense Forces
interceptor and rescued 177 Haitian migrants from an overloaded 40-foot vessel
approximately 20 nautical miles southwest of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.

“From responding to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, to completing four consecutive deployments through the Panama Canal to the Eastern Pacific Ocean, to preventing over nine tons of illicit narcotics, valued at over a quarter billion dollars, from reaching our shores, and rescuing 189 migrants and 10 fishermen from the perils of the sea, the crew of Venturous truly upheld her motto, Nemo Supra, None Better.”

Cmdr. Matthew Chong, commanding officer of the Venturous

The Venturous
crew utilized both of the over the horizon cutter boats to safely offload all
177 migrants from the vessel, which was slowly flooding due to its severely
overloaded state and choppy seas. The Royal Bahamian Defense Forces interceptor
provided security on the vessel and the Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk
helicopter provided overflight coverage as Venturous embarked the migrants.
Once aboard Venturous, crewmembers provided the migrants with food, water,
shelter and basic medical care.

On two other
occasions, Venturous intercepted overloaded vessels closer to shore and
directed them to return back to port rather than face the dangerous journey in
open waters.

Six cadets
from the Coast Guard Academy also joined Venturous during the deployment and
worked alongside the crew while earning various shipboard qualifications and
gaining valuable operational experience that will aid in their development as
future Coast Guard officers.

Additionally,
Venturous hosted two ship riders from the Cayman Islands. While on board, the
ship riders attended operations briefings and engaged with crewmembers to
exchange best practices to fight human and narcotics trafficking networks while
strengthening the strategic partnership with an important regional ally.

“As I
complete my final patrol on Venturous, I can’t help but look back on the past
two years with immense pride and awe in all that our crew accomplished.” said
Cmdr. Matthew Chong, commanding officer of the Venturous. “From responding to
Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, to completing four consecutive deployments
through the Panama Canal to the Eastern Pacific Ocean, to preventing over nine
tons of illicit narcotics, valued at over a quarter billion dollars, from
reaching our shores, and rescuing 189 migrants and 10 fishermen from the perils
of the sea, the crew of Venturous truly upheld her motto, Nemo Supra, None
Better.”

The Venturous
is a 210-foot Reliance-class cutter, homeported in St. Petersburg and has a
crew of 76. Medium endurance cutters, like the Venturous, are slated for
replacement by a new class of cutter — the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC). With
the ability to operate more than 50 miles from land, the OPC will be a
multi-mission asset, providing surface and air pursuit capabilities and
interoperability with other military and federal partners.

Despite the current heavy focus on great power competition,
the Navy must retain and build its ability to engage in irregular maritime
conflict, which historically has always been a fundamental part of maintaining
maritime security, a panel of historians and naval security analysts said June
26.

Although the early Navy considered irregular actions, such
as raids on coastal cities and enemy commerce and antipiracy missions, as a
part of general maritime conflict, the current Navy thinks of itself as
blue-water force that must be prepared for the clash of battle fleets. But some
potential adversaries, including China and Iran, are engaging in “gray zone”
actions below the level of war and the Navy and Marine Corps must be able to
respond, the panel said at a Hudson Institute forum.

Benjamin Armstrong, a Naval Academy
professor and author of a history of 18^th and 19^th
century U.S. Navy, contrasted John Paul Jones’ raids on British ports and
merchant ships with the current Navy’s devotion to the clash of battle fleets
championed by Alfred Mahan, while Iran harasses U.S. warships with small boats
and China build artificial islands and employs its fishing fleet as an
auxiliary force to control the South China Sea.

“Today’s Navy and Marine
Corps are wrestling with how to balance great power conflict with gray zone
acts … the kind of maritime competition below the level of war,” Armstrong said.

Martin Murphy, a fellow at
the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies and author of a book on piracy
and maritime terrorism in the modern world, and Joshua Tallis, from the Center
for Naval Analysis and author of a similar history of irregular maritime
conflict, also said the current Navy’s strategy and self image does not account
for the broader dimension of maritime security and the challenges from
non-state actors.

Murphy said, “I do not believe
the United States is prepared” for the broader dimensions of maritime security,
because the importance of sea power has “lost all traction in U.S. foreign policy.”

Peter Haynes, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and a former deputy with the Special Operations Command, said the Navy’s problem is that it “has defined the [maritime] competition very narrowly in the context of global conflict,” which reflects the Navy’s self-identity of “we only do blue-water operations.”

Linda Robinson, the senior
international/defense researcher at the RAND Corp., said that while the new
National Defense Strategy cited the return of great power competition, it also
said “irregular warfare was part of what the U.S. needs to be about,” because
small-state and non-state actors can employ a “broad range of powers.”

In response to a question,
several of the panelists said the Navy should be buying more smaller ships to
deal with the challenges from adversaries other than China and Russia,
including Iran’s threat of swarming attacks of small fast craft. “When
we see the Navy buying small ships, we’ll know the Navy has got it,” Murphy
said.

WASHINGTON —
Alaska’s junior senator, a member of the Armed Services Committee, is critical
of the Pentagon’s lack of support for a strategic Arctic port but is pleased
that the nation has a Secretary of the Navy who understands the need for the
Navy to have the infrastructure to sustain a presence in the Arctic region.

“The good
news is having a Secretary of the Navy who gets it and is an advocate,” said
Sen. Dan Sullivan, chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management
Support on the Senate Armed Services Committee, speaking June 26 on Arctic
defense issues to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, a Washington think tank, noting that Congress, not the Defense
Department, is usually driving the efforts to strengthen U.S. strategic presence
in the Arctic.

Sullivan,
also a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, said he was concerned about Russian
hegemony in the Arctic, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin said that
the Arctic is “the new Suez Canal that Russia will control,” and that Russia is
devoting four of six new brigade combat teams to the Arctic region.  

He noted that
Russia fields 40 icebreakers and is building 13 more, while the Coast Guard has
only one heavy icebreaker. He is pleased that the Congress has authorized six
icebreakers, including three polar security cutters (PSCs), and has funded the
first PSC and made a down payment of a second.

Sullivan said
the Navy will be sending one or two guided-missile destroyers along with Coast
Guard assets to the Arctic this summer and in September will be conducting
exercises from the former naval air station on Adak, an Aleutian island, as
well as operating P-8 maritime patrol aircraft from Adak for part of the year.

The Arm Corps
of Engineers is studying the challenges of building a strategic port at Nome,
Alaska, he said. 

He pointed
out that the Navy currently does not have the capability to conduct freedom of
navigation operations in the Arctic, noting that submarines, being covert under
the ice, do not count as a ‘presence.’ 

Sullivan also
said the Navy needs to consider ice-hardening some future ships.  

“I’m very
supportive of a 355-ship Navy, but we need to look at the Navy and we’ve had
this in the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] for the Secretary of the
Navy to look, the ice-hardening capabilities of some of that new fleet that
we’re building, so we have a lot of work to do and we’re way behind with regard
to capabilities, particularly on the Navy side, the strategic Arctic port side,”
he said.

WASHINGTON – Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) released the Naval Power and Energy Systems Technology Development Roadmap, providing an evolutionary strategy to meet future weapon and sensor systems power requirements, June 26, the command said in a release of the same date.

Developed
by the Electric Ships Office within Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships, the
roadmap aligns electric power and energy system development with increasing
warfighter power needs, enabling the U.S. Navy to expand maritime superiority
over our adversaries. 

“The U.S.
Navy faces increasingly sophisticated threats,” said Vice Adm. Tom Moore,
commander, NAVSEA. “Our mandate is to maintain sea control by delivering a
decisive advantage to the warfighter. We do that by ensuring our platforms have
enough space, weight and power margin to adapt to future threats.”

As
existing U.S. Navy power and energy systems represent a century of combined
private and public partnership, the roadmap establishes priorities to guide
future research and development investments across the government, industry and
academic enterprises; leveraging the best in science and engineering; and
allowing the Navy to more efficiently field future capabilities.  

“Now is
the time to invest in future naval power systems and capabilities to influence
technology developments for tomorrow’s fleet,” said Stephen Markle, director,
Electric Ships Office. “As new technologies evolve, it’s imperative we lead the
innovation of power and energy architecture necessary for tomorrow’s sensors
and weapons and deliver the Chief of Naval Operations’ mandate of as much power
as we can afford to the warfighter.”

Power and
energy systems offer the potential to provide revolutionary warfighting
capability at an affordable cost. The Electric Ships Office’s efforts have
helped conceptualize and field the power generation, electrical distribution
and propulsion machinery on the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers; and power
generation and conversion systems on the DDG 51 Flight III. Future efforts
include development of the Energy Magazine to enable pulsed high-power weapons
and sensor systems for both back fit and forward fit applications, and
evolution of Integrated Power Systems found on DDG 1000 and Royal Navy Type 45-
and Queen Elizabeth-class ships by integrating energy storage and advanced
controls as the Integrated Power and Energy System.

WASHINGTON – The
U.S. Coast Guard has selected Charleston, South Carolina, as the home of the service’s
newest National Security Cutter, Coast Guard Headquarters announced in a June
26 release.

“I am pleased to
announce that Charleston, South Carolina, will be the home of the Coast Guard’s
11th National Security Cutter,” said Adm. Karl L. Schultz, commandant of the
Coast Guard. Construction on the 11th National Security Cutter is scheduled to
begin by spring of 2020. Charleston is already home to two of the Coast Guard’s
National Security Cutters, the James and Hamilton. In 2017, the Coast Guard
announced that the ninth and 10th National Security Cutters, currently under
construction at Huntington Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, will
join the Charleston-based National Security Cutter fleet in the coming years.
Schultz further noted, “I am confident that the Charleston community is the
right place for our Coast Guardsmen and their families to base these highly
capable National Security Cutters with the global reach to respond to complex
maritime threats and challenges.”

National Security
Cutters are the most technologically advanced vessels in the Coast Guard. They
are capable of supporting maritime homeland security and defense missions. They
safeguard the American people and promote our security in a complex and
persistently evolving maritime environment.

Grouping cutters
of the same class is one critical variable in selecting homeports. Grouping
cutters in the same location improves maintenance proficiency, streamlines
logistics, and provides increased personnel flexibility.

The cutter is
scheduled to arrive in 2024; its name has not yet been selected. This will be
the fifth National Security Cutter assigned to Charleston.

WASHINGTON —
Sailors aboard Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82), in
partnership with Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) 5.0,
Undersea Systems, successfully tested the Virtual Laboratory on Ship (VLOS), a
virtualized Undersea Warfare Combat System (AN/SQQ-89 A(V)15), during a recent
weeklong underway period, the PEO announced in a June 26 release. VLOS
represents another important step forward in the U.S. Navy’s efforts to speed
combat system element development and software upgrades. 

During the
past year, IWS 5.0 developed VLOS in close collaboration with Applied Research
Laboratory – University of Texas (ARL-UT) and Naval Undersea Warfare Center
(NUWC) Division Newport to meet the Department of the Navy’s demand to speed
the development of cutting-edge weapon systems with industry’s advancements in
software virtualization and virtual machine applications. VLOS is a virtualized
sonar sensor subset of the tactical AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 system and operates
alongside the ship’s AN/SQQ-89 system via passive receipt of acoustic and
navigation data from the tactical system. For rapid installation and removal
purposes, VLOS is packaged and installed as a roll-on/roll-off temporary change
to the ship it is installed aboard and incorporates the Naval Sea Systems
Command flexible technology demonstration processes.

The VLOS was
installed on board USS Lassen alongside the existing AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 tactical
system to evaluate new advanced sensor capabilities in an operationally
relevant environment against live submarine targets and weapons. During the
weeklong underway period, PEO IWS 5.0, ARL-UT and NUWC engineers demonstrated
the ability to transmit a software fix from a shore site to a ship at sea using
VLOS.  The successful transmission of
software supports the Navy’s initiatives to speed the delivery of new software
capabilities to combat systems at sea via the existing networks ships use to
send and receive data. 

Additionally,
VLOS operated the latest Advanced Capability Build (ACB) software, ACB 15,
while the ship’s AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 system operated its older certified software
build, ACB 9. The ship’s Sailors performed the undersea warfare exercise with
ACB 9 while the VLOS engineers were utilizing ACB 15, which allowed Sailors to
see what additional combat capability exists within ACB 15 while performing
high-end undersea warfare events.

“This
progression of virtualizing the SQQ-89 system represents the team’s efforts to
rapidly plan and execute demonstrations to take advantage of existing industry
technology and align it with Navy technology,” said PEO IWS 5.0 Major Program
Manager Capt. Jill Cesari. “These efforts will make a real difference in our
ability to deliver more capability faster.”

In 2018, PEO
IWS 5.0 tested VLOS on USS Nitze (DDG 94). During the Nitze trials, VLOS was
tested pier side and at sea over a two-week period. The test results
demonstrated satisfactory performance of a virtualized version of the tactical
AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 advanced capability build software, operating in a relevant
at-sea environment, and supported the decision to proceed with the most recent
underway period on USS Lassen.

The VLOS test
results will be used to evaluate advanced AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 sensor capabilities
prior to fielding, demonstrate the feasibility of transmitting large and
complex software upgrades and fixes for ships at sea, and support future
efforts to virtualize the tactical AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 system. Additionally, VLOS
efforts have assisted the progression of virtualized training systems at the
Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center in San Diego, where the majority
of training occurs for shipboard officers and Sailors operating and maintaining
the AN/SQQ-89(A)V15 sonar suite.

MARINETTE,
Wis. — Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 17, the future USS Indianapolis, completed acceptance
trials in Lake Michigan, Lockheed Martin said in a June 26 release. This is the
ship’s final significant milestone before the ship is delivered to the U.S.
Navy. LCS 17 is the ninth Freedom-variant LCS designed and built by the
Lockheed Martin-led industry team and is slated for delivery to the Navy this
year.

“LCS 17
is joining the second-largest class of ships in the U.S. Navy fleet, and we are
proud to get the newest Littoral Combat Ship one step closer to delivery,” said
Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager, Small
Combatants and Ship Systems. “This ship is lethal and flexible, and we are
confident that she will capably serve critical U.S. Navy missions today and in
future.”

Unique among
combat ships, LCS is designed to complete close-to-shore missions and is a
growing and relevant part of the Navy’s fleet.

•        It is flexible — with 40 percent of the
hull easily reconfigurable, LCS can be modified to integrate capabilities
including over-the-horizon missiles, advanced electronic warfare systems and
decoys.

•        It is fast — capable of speeds in excess
of 40 knots.

•        It is lethal — standard equipped with
Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) and a Mark 110 gun, capable of firing 220
rounds per minute.

•        It is automated — with the most
efficient staffing of any combat ship.

The trials
included a full-power run, maneuverability testing, and surface and air
detect-to-engage demonstrations of the ship’s combat system. Major systems and
features were demonstrated, including aviation support, small boat launch
handling, and recovery and machinery control and automation.

“I am
extremely proud of our LCS team including our shipbuilders at Fincantieri
Marinette Marine,” said Jan Allman, Fincantieri Marinette Marine president
and CEO. “These are complex vessels, and it takes a strong team effort to
design, build and test these American warships.”

MOBILE, Ala. — Austal USA delivered its 10th
Independence-variant littoral combat ship to the U.S. Navy, the company
announced in a release, as the future USS Cincinnati(LCS 20) will be
the 18th LCS to enter the fleet.

“It’s so exciting to deliver another great warship to the
U.S. Navy,” Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said. “I’m so proud of our
incredible team here at Austal USA, our industry and Navy partners for achieving
this major milestone for the future USS Cincinnati.”

Five small surface combatants are presently under various
stages of construction at Austal’s Alabama shipyard. The future USS Kansas City
(LCS 22) is preparing for sea trials. Assembly is underway on the future USS
Oakland (LCS 24) and the future USS Mobile (LCS 26), and modules are under
construction for the future USS Savannah (LCS 28) and the future USS Canberra
(LCS 30) with four more under contract through LCS 38.

“The shipbuilding momentum here is second to none, led by
the most talented shipbuilding professionals I’ve ever worked with,”
Perciavalle said. “This momentum and efficiency continue to result in
incredible cost savings ship over ship, enabling us to provide highly capable
but very cost-effective solutions to our Navy.”

More than 700 suppliers in 40 states contribute to the
Independence-variant LCS program. This supplier base supports tens of thousands
of small business to large business jobs.

LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship
designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and
surface warfare missions. The Independence-variant LCS integrates new
technology and capability to support current and future mission capability from
deep water to the littorals.

Austal is also under contract to build 14 Expeditionary
Fast Transport vessels (EPF) for the Navy. The company has delivered 10 EPFs
while an additional two are in various stages of construction.