:

Navy/USMC

Austal USA Launches First Steel Ship, the Navajo-class T-ATS 11

Friday, June 20th, 2025

SHARE:

Austal USA Launches First Steel Ship, the Navajo-class T-ATS 11

The future USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11) Navajo-class Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship ship before it was launched into the water in June 2025. (Photo: Austal USA)

Austal USA this month launched its first steel ship, the future USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11). T-ATS 11 is the first of five Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship ships the shipyard is building for the Navy. The company noted this is the first steel product at the company’s new “state-of-the-art automated steel panel line.” Austal USA’s Mobile, Ala., shipyard previously focused on the aluminum Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ships, but now has shifted to steel ships like T-ATS, producing modules…

Budget

House Appropriators Add Restrictions And Reporting Requirement To Battleship, Reject Cut

The chairman’s mark of the House Appropriations Committee’s (HAC) fiscal year 2027 defense appropriations bill funds the administration’s $1 billion request for the BBG(X) Trump-class battleship, but adds restrictions requiring […]

Congress

House Appropriators Concerned With ‘Risky’ Reconciliation Approach To Fund Munitions, F-35 Plans

The House Appropriations Committee has raised concern with the Trump administration’s “risky” approach to seeking significant fiscal year 2027 funding for key priorities such as critical munitions and F-35 procurement […]

Budget

Lawmakers Push Shipbuilding Accountability And Submarine Reports In House Appropriations Bill

The House Appropriations Committee’s mark of the FY ‘27 defense spending bill includes shipbuilding accountability provisions given increasing cost-to-complete requests and perennially delayed shipbuilding programs. The bill report said that […]

Congress

Six F-35Bs Delivered Without Radars Thus Far, Program Director Says

The U.S. Marine Corps thus far has received six F-35B fighters without radars, as the service waits on Northrop Grumman‘s [NOC] delivery of the AN/APG-85 radar, which is to replace […]