United States Navy LCU 1710 Delivered

Austal USA handed the first LCU 1700-class landing craft utility, LCU 1710, to the US Navy at Mobile, Alabama on 14 August 2026, after acceptance trials in which the Board of Inspection and Survey validated construction quality and mission readiness. The craft carries equipment and personnel from ship to shore in expeditionary operations, and is credited with greater endurance and survivability than the legacy LCUs it succeeds, along with the ability to berth without tug or pilot assistance and to be run by a reduced crew. It is also the first steel hull the aluminium-focused yard has delivered to the Navy, on a loss-making contract underwritten by a 50 million dollar matching grant toward its new steel line; several sisters are under construction.