Austal USA, a shipbuilding company in Mobile, announced Thursday that it has received a new contract worth $43,362,000 to perform needed work on littoral combat ships.

The $43 million announced Tuesday is an addition to a $584 million contract signed in 2017 to build a littoral combat ship for use by the United States Navy.

Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle released a statement saying that the Department of Defense choosing his company for the modifications “reflects the Navy’s ongoing confidence in Austal to perform quality work throughout the life cycle of the ship.”

The Navy’s website describes a littoral combat ship as “a fast, agile, mission-focused- platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation.”

According to a release, the work done by Austal under the terms of the new contract “may include program management, fitting out services, change processing, software maintenance, engineering, and lifecycle efforts.”

Littoral combat ships are designed to defeat or remove “mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft,” according to the Navy.

Austal says it employs around 4,000 people in the Mobile area; its facility there was first opened in 1999.

“Austal’s post-delivery service and supply team’s performance will help continue Austal’s outstanding support to the fleet well into the future,” concluded Perciavalle.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@new-yhn.local or on Twitter @HenryThornton95