|
Post by ferryfast admin on Aug 3, 2011 12:41:17 GMT -5
Austal makes first cut on Jackson, president says design flaw is fixed
Press-Register blog.al.com/live/2011/08/austal_makes_first_cut_on_jack.html
MOBILE, Alabama -- Austal celebrated a milestone Tuesday, cutting the first piece of aluminum on LCS 6, the first ship in a projected 10-vessel, $3.5 billion deal.
The latest ship, which will be christened the Jackson, is the first that Austal USA will build as a prime contractor for the U.S. Navy.
Austal built both a previous LCS and one under construction at its facility on the Mobile River as a subcontractor for General Dynamics Corp.
Austal’s competitor, Lockheed Martin Corp., also has been awarded a 10-ship deal to build the speedy, shallow-draft vessels.
Austal officials called a news conference to show off the first cutting, but the LCS’ ultra-modern fabrication process makes that stage of the manufacturing process more technically fascinating than dramatic.
Technicians feed designs into a computer, which then guides a giant router over aluminum plates, slicing out the intricate design of the needed parts.
Nevertheless, Austal President Joe Rella called the plate’s cutting “a very important day in the life of a new ship.” To commemorate the occasion, designers had the router-wielding robot etch out the ship’s name and design on an aluminum plaque. The plaque will hang in the construction facility, Rella said. As more ships are built, others will join it.
|
|