Brenda Marie Rivers
An expeditionary fast transport vessel Austal USA has built for the U.S. Navy completed acceptance trials Friday following a two-day evaluation conducted by the service branch’s Board of Inspection and Survey in the Gulf of Mexico.
INSURV assessed the readiness of USNS Burlington equipment and systems for both dockside and underway operations, the Naval Sea Systems Command said Friday.
Burlington, which will be the Navy’s 10th Spearhead-class ship, is set to undergo preparations at an Austal USA shipyard in Alabama and scheduled for delivery to the service branch later this year.
Non-combatant EPFs are designed to operate in shallow-draft ports and waterways, perform logistics support and rapid transport, support relief efforts in small or damaged ports.
The vessels feature a flight deck structure intended for aircraft launch-and-recovery operations and can interface with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities and on/off-loading vehicles such as Abrams main battle tanks.
