Fincantieri’s US subsidiary has received a $30-million Navy contract to launch development of the new Medium Landing Ship fleet. The initial phase includes procurement of long-lead components plus engineering tasks tied to the first four vessels. The LSM program seeks as many as 35 ships to support amphibious maneuver, logistics movement, and operations close to shorelines. Based on the Damen LST-100 design, the vessel can transport heavy cargo or over 200 personnel while operating at 15 knots. The program is intended to provide the Navy and Marine Corps with flexible, lower-cost transport ships for distributed maritime operations.
