LHA-6 Trials

Huntington Ingalls Industries' first big-deck, America-class amphibious assault ship completed acceptance trials off the coast of Pascagoula, MS, on Jan. 31.

During the trials, the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey performed rigorous tests and evaluated all of the ship's major systems, according to a Navy statement released today, including combat, propulsion, communications, navigation, mission systems and aviation capabilities.

The ship is slated for delivery in the spring.

"The ship performed extremely well," said Capt. Chris Mercer, amphibious warfare program manager for the program executive office for ships. "There were no major deficiencies identified. This marks a tremendous achievement for any ship, made only more impressive by America's size, complexity and that the ship is the lead ship for the amphibious assault replacement program. We are very proud of this successful trial and look forward to America soon joining the fleet."

Inside the Navy reported on Jan. 27 that LHA-6 was undergoing acceptance trials that week:

The vessel successfully completed builder's trials in November and is expected to deliver to the Navy and the Marine Corps later in 2014, according to Capt. Chris Mercer, amphibious warfare program manager.

HII recently began construction on the second big-deck amphibious vessel, LHA-7 (Tripoli), Mercer said during a presentation at the Surface Navy Association's annual symposium in Arlington, VA on Jan. 15.

LHA-6 and LHA-7 were designed intentionally to be more aviation-centric than their predecessors, Mercer said, in order to utilize the speed and stealth capabilities of the Joint Strike Fighter and MV-22. However, LHA-6 has recently encountered problems coping with the heat generated by the JSF during vertical take-off and landing.

A March 2013 Government Accountability Office report estimated that the vessel would incur about $42.2 million in cost growth due to "post-delivery rework of the ship's deck" in order to deal with exhaust and downwash from the aircraft.

The Navy has so far identified about 14 different design changes to make to LHA-6 so the ship can better support JSF, Mercer said, including relocating antenna and adding covers to life rafts and refueling stations.