The Navy’s next Expeditionary Fast Transport vessel, the future USNS Burlington (EPF-10), successfully finished its builder’s trials on June 29, the Navy said on Thursday.
The ship was built by Austal USA at its shipyard in Mobile, Ala. The trails lasted for a week and started pierside for dock trials. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Coast worked with the shipyard to demonstrate system equipment and operations worked properly. The ship then spent two days underway in the Gulf of Mexico demonstrating calibration of communications and navigation, propulsion, ride control, and anchor handling.
The tests included maneuverability trials to test the ship’s four steerable water jets with a series of high-speed turns to demonstrate the ship’s stability and agility.
Capt. Scot Searles, Strategic and Theater Sealift program manager at Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships, said the ship performed well.
“The testing results achieved this week are a testament to the combined efforts of industry and Navy,” he said in a statement.
EPF-10’s next step is acceptance trials, set to start in late July. After that, the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) will inspect and evaluate the vessels, certifying their readiness for delivery to the Navy.
EPF’s are non-combatant ships meant to operate in shallow-draft ports and waterways, helping operational flexibility with operations like maneuver and sustainment, relief operations in small/damaged ports, flexible logistics support, and enabling rapid transport.
Each vessel has a flight deck, airline-style seating for 312 embarked forces and fixed berthing for 204 personnel. Additionally, it has the capability to on/off-load vehicles like a fully loaded Abrams tank.
The previous expeditionary fast transport vessel, the USNS City of Bismark (EPF-9), was delivered in December. Austal USA won a $326 million contract in 2016 to continue building the ships through EPF-12, which is expected to be ready by 2022 (Defense Daily, Dec. 20, 2017).