The U.S. Navy’s final Independence-class littoral combat ship, the future USS Pierre (LCS 38), has successfully completed its acceptance trials, according to shipbuilder Austal USA.
The milestone occurred in June 2025, as the vessel departed the company’s Mobile, Alabama, shipyard for a series of operational tests in the Gulf of Mexico.
Acceptance trials are the last major hurdle before a ship is formally delivered to the Navy. The completion of these tests sets the stage for USS Pierre’s handover later this year, bringing an end to the production of one of the Navy’s most debated ship classes.
The Independence-class ships were designed by Austal, an Australian company, under the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. Featuring a trimaran hull and aluminum construction, the vessels were intended for operations in shallow coastal waters, with speed and modularity as key attributes.
The program, however, has faced persistent scrutiny. Early hulls in the class — including USS Independence (LCS 2) and USS Coronado (LCS 4) — were retired well before their expected service lives, primarily due to technical challenges and escalating maintenance costs. USS Independence, commissioned in 2010, was decommissioned in July 2021. Coronado followed in September 2022, after only eight years of service.
Despite these setbacks, later ships in the Independence line saw smoother production and delivery timelines. The three most recent vessels — USS Canberra, USS Santa Barbara, and USS Augusta — were launched in 2023, followed by USS Kingsville in 2024. USS Pierre now becomes the last to complete trials before delivery.
While the early decommissioning of several LCS units has drawn criticism from lawmakers and military analysts alike, the Navy has continued to evaluate how the remaining ships can contribute to near-shore and distributed operations. Some vessels are expected to be sold or transferred to partner nations, while others will remain in service with revised mission sets focused on mine countermeasures and unmanned systems integration.
The conclusion of the LCS production line with USS Pierre allows the shipbuilder to shift its full attention to these newer platforms, which are viewed as better aligned with current strategic requirements.
Although the LCS concept was once hailed as a transformative shift in naval warfare, the program’s mixed operational history has made it a case study in balancing speed of development with long-term sustainability. The Navy is now investing in newer classes of multi-mission combatants, including the Constellation-class frigates, which are expected to offer greater endurance, firepower, and survivability in contested environments.