Austal USA Wins $45 Million Navy Contract for USS Canberra Docking Maintenance

Austal USA LLC of Mobile, Alabama, has won a Navy contract worth up to $44.9 million to maintain, modernize and repair USS Canberra (LCS 30) during its fiscal 2027 Docking Selected Restricted Availability. The firm-fixed-price award covers the labor, equipment, facilities, testing and quality assurance needed for the shipyard period. Work will take place in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by February 2028.

USS Canberra Docking Availability Details

Austal will prepare for and carry out repairs and alterations aboard Canberra under work-item specifications, drawings and test procedures. The Navy’s solicitation calls for a contractor able to coordinate maintenance and modernization across multiple parts of the ship, using facilities that include a pier capable of accommodating the vessel.

The solicitation work document describes availability preparation, foundation prefabrication, temporary services and completion of the specified shipboard work. Austal will also provide the required work documentation and perform testing and quality-assurance activities. The Navy’s earlier market-research notice described the planned availabilities as involving both dry-dock and pier-side maintenance, repair and alterations.

USS Canberra Mine Countermeasures Background

Canberra is an Independence-variant littoral combat ship that became the first LCS to deploy with a mine countermeasures mission package when it arrived in Bahrain in May 2025. The package combines sensors, unmanned vehicles, support equipment and software for detecting and countering mines. The Navy has identified LCS as the replacement force for Avenger-class mine-countermeasures ships formerly based in Bahrain. Canberra’s docking award provides for the ship’s scheduled maintenance and modernization; the award notice does not identify changes to its mine countermeasures package.

Award and Contractor Background

The Navy received four offers in the full-and-open competition. It solicited the Canberra availability alongside a separate docking availability for USS Cincinnati (LCS 20), with a contract planned for each ship. The award to Austal USA covers Canberra.

Austal has also performed smaller, ship-specific work on Canberra. A $5.3 million emergent-availability order has a potential performance end in August 2026, while a $2.3 million continuous-maintenance order had a potential performance end in February 2025. The new docking award is broader in scope, covering a scheduled shipyard availability rather than either of those individual maintenance efforts.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under N0002427C4413 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.