Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Austal USA was awarded a $7.9 million contract for shipboard support for the Navy's littoral combat ship the USS Oakland.
Work on the USS Oakland, christened in June, comes under an industrial post-delivery availability for the Independence-variant LCS. It will be home ported in San Diego.
The new contract was announced Tuesday by the Department of Defense.
Under the contract, Austal will perform preventative maintenance and implement engineering change proposals and address deficiencies identified during test trials. The contract also funds program management support and logistics support for technical documentation.
The work will be performed primarily in Mobile, Ala., with 20 percent taking place in Pittsfield, Mass. Work should be completed by October 2020.
Littoral combat ships are designed for operation in near-shore environments but capable of open-ocean operation, handling threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft.
