Christine Thropp
Austal USA will design and build three units of a medical ship variant of its Expeditionary Fast Transport vessel under an $867.6 million undefinitized contract from the U.S. Navy.
The company said Thursday the Expeditionary Medical Ships will be constructed at its aluminum manufacturing line in Mobile, Alabama, and will be delivered to the service branch in support of its distributed maritime operations.
EMS is designed to perform patient holding, stabilization, evacuation and transport and features a shallow draft for port reach and access as well as a flight deck for V-22, H-53K and other military aircraft.
The production follows the completion of EPF 16, the last of the said platform. Work is expected to wrap up by May 2030, according to a Department of Defense award posting.
To date, Austal USA has provided 13 EPFs to the Navy and is slated to hand over the future USNS Cody (EPF 14)– the first EPF Flight II– to the service branch.
