Tongdao Think Tank 2024-02-08 11:48 Beijing
According to the USNI network on February 6**, the U.S. Alabama shipyard Austal Corporation announced on Tuesday that it will expand its shipyard to increase the capacity to build steel ships the size of modern missile destroyers.
Construction of the new steel facility, which will add a 192,000-square-foot, three-bay building, will begin this summer. The building will sit on four and a half acres of land on the site of the former Alabama shipyard in Mobile, recently purchased by U.S. Austal. When completed, the Mobile Shipyard will span 180 acres with more than 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing space.
Michelle Kruger, President of Austal USA**, said: "With the steel plate production line fully operational, our expansion focus has shifted to the installation and launch facilities needed to support our growing backlog. ”
According to reports, the new steel facility is expected to cost $2$500 million. It will provide more space for projects to build Aosta, such as the Traditional-class offshore patrol boat for the Coast Guard and the T-Agos-25 marine monitoring vessel for the Navy. The announcement of the new facility in Aosta comes as the U.S. Navy is considering adding a second shipyard to build the Constellation-class missile frigates, following the Marine Corps Shipyard in Fincantierni, Wisconsin.
"This capability will facilitate the launching and docking of the U.S. Navy's Constellation-class frigates, TAGA-25-class oceanographic monitoring vessels, Littoral Combat Ships Independence and U.S. Coast Guard Heritage-class offshore patrol vessels," the statement said. "The system will also be able to ** the ship and bring it back to the land facility.
A similar system was used at HII's Ingalls shipyard to lift the missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) for repairs at the shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The Alabama shipyard is also building Navajo-class tow, salvage and rescue vessels (T-ATS). This is the first ship on Austal's steel production line, converted from its original aluminium manufacturing plant. Last year, the pain of the Navajo production line led to a $40 million write-down by Aosta America's Australian parent company.
February** Dynamic Incentive Program