Austal launches 12th Spearhead-class EPF for US Navy

The US Navy’s 12th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), the future USNS Newport, was launched at Austal USA’s shipyard on Thursday, February 20.

Once completed, the vessel will be capable of transporting over 540 tonnes of troops and equipment over 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots.

Delivery of the future Newport is scheduled for later this year. In addition to serving as a troop and vehicle transport, the vessel will support a variety of missions including overseas contingency operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, support of special operations forces, theatre security cooperation activities, and emerging joint sea-basing concepts.