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Home» News»Austal Launched 12th Expeditionary Fast Transport for the U.S. Navy
Austal picture

Austal Launched 12th Expeditionary Fast Transport for the U.S. Navy

Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., launched the future USNS Newport (EPF 12) into the Mobile River on February 20. This is the first Navy ship that Austal has launched in 2020.

Xavier Vavasseur 21 Feb 2020

Newport is an expeditionary fast transport (EPF), one of 14 that Austal has under contract with the U.S. Navy, 11 of which have been delivered with the remaining 3 in various stages of construction.

The next step is sea trials and then delivery before the end of the year. 

The future USNS Newport was officially christened in November 2019 and was named after Newport, Rhode Island – home to U.S. Naval Station Newport and the Naval War College.

Austal picture

The 103 metre Spearhead-class EPF is capable of transporting 312 embarked troops and 600 short tons of cargo up to 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots. The ships can operate in shallow-draft ports and waterways, interface with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities, and on/off-load a combat-loaded Abrams Main Battle Tank (M1A2).

The EPF includes a flight deck for helicopter operations and an off-load ramp that allows vehicles to quickly drive off the ship. The ramp is suitable for the types of austere piers and quay walls common in developing countries. EPF’s shallow draft further enhances littoral operations and port access. This makes the EPF an extremely flexible asset for support of a wide range of military and other (humanitarian and disaster relief) operations to small or damaged ports.

Austal EPF Expeditionary Fast Transport US Navy 2020-02-21
Tags Austal EPF Expeditionary Fast Transport US Navy
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Authors

Posted by : Xavier Vavasseur
Xavier is based in Paris, France. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Xavier has been covering naval defense topics for nearly a decade.

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