Company
Austal USA launched the Navy’s Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock Medium 15 on July 28, sending the 12,000-ton vessel into the Mobile River. The yard said it is the first AFDM built in more than 40 years and the largest vessel launched into the Mobile Channel to date.
Austal USA has added Michael Pruitt, Michael Oberdorf and Andrew Hinkebein to its senior leadership team. Pruitt will serve as vice president of surface ship programs, Oberdorf as vice president of submarine programs, and Hinkebein as director of state and local government relations.
Austal USA has named Gene Miller president, effective immediately, after a three-month search by its board of managers. He had been serving as interim president since February 16, 2026, after Michelle Kruger’s planned retirement. Miller joined Austal USA as chief operating officer in 2024. He previously held senior roles at Ingalls Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works.
Austal USA has taken delivery of AML3D’s first portable ARCEMY small edition for the U.S. Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Danville, Virginia. The system is mounted in a 20-foot shipping container and will join two custom large-scale ARCEMY X systems already at the site. Austal USA said the containerised unit can be redeployed in as little as one to two days, compared with two to three weeks for a fixed system.
Austal USA started construction on LCU 1714, its fifth U.S. Navy Landing Craft Utility 1700-class vessel, at its Mobile, Alabama ship manufacturing facility on April 27, 2026. The yard said the vessel is part of a $91.5 million contract awarded in September 2023 for up to 12 LCUs and associated support efforts.
Austal USA hosted Christopher Miller, its new Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Maritime, at its Mobile, Alabama, facility on Thursday. He was briefed on Navy surface ship and submarine module production, toured the yard and saw Billy Franks Jr. (T-ATS 11) and Lansing (EPF 16), both due for sea trials this summer.