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Austal held a keel-laying ceremony for the third Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) ? Jackson (LCS 6),one of five Austal-designed 127-m U.S. Navy Independence-variant LCS under contract with the U.S. Navy. Dr. Kather- ine Holmes Cochran, the ship?s spon- sor, was present to weld her initials onto the keel plate as the Keel Authen- ticator. She was assisted by J.B. Craig, III, who is an ?A? Class welder that has been part of the Austal team since No- vember of 2011. Dr. Cochran is the daughter of U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and his wife Rose Clayton Cochran. She was born in Jackson, Miss., and received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Mississippi. She is currently an associateprofessor at the University of Southern Mississippi where she directs the EnglishLicensure Program, works with the South Mississippi Writing Project, and teaches courses in southern literature. In 1991,Dr. Cochran served as the maid of honor as her mother sponsored the USS Barry(DDG 52).Senator Cochran is a native of Ponto- toc, Miss., and is currently serving hissixth term in office as a U.S. Senator. After graduating from the University of Mississippi, he was commissioned an En- sign in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He served on USS Macon, a heavy cruiser, and be- came the ship?s legal officer after gradu- ating as an honor student from the U.S.Navy School of Justice in Newport, Rhode Island. He also taught military law and naval orientation at the Officer Can- didate School in Newport at which time he was promoted to the rank of Lieu- tenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Sena- tor Cochran is a member of the DefenseAppropriations Subcommittee where hehas worked successfully to support the Navy?s shipbuilding programs. ?Jackson (LCS 6) is the first of 10 In- dependence-variant Littoral Combat Ships awarded by the Navy to Austal as prime contractor,? said Craig Perciavalle, Austal USA?s Senior Vice President of Operations. ?It is exciting to see our most recent facility additions come to life, with this ship being the first constructed uti- lizing Phase 2 of our Module Manufac- turing Facility and the first ship assembled in our new Assembly Bay 5. None of this would be possible without the hard work of the great employees of Austal USA.? Austal is currently under contract withthe U.S. Navy to build nine 103-meter Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSVs) under a 10-ship, $1.6 billion contract and five 127-meter Independence-variant LCS class ships, four of which are a part of a10-ship, $3.5 billion contract.For the LCS and JHSV programs, Austal, as prime contractor, is teamed with General Dynamics Advanced Infor- mation Systems, a business unit of Gen- eral Dynamics. As the ship systems integrator, General Dynamics is respon- sible for the design, integration and test- ing of the ship?s electronic systems including the combat system, networks, and seaframe control. General Dynamics?proven open architecture approach allows for affordable and efficient capability growth as technologies develop. November 2012www.marinelink.com 93Austal Lays Keel for LCS 6MR#11 (90-97) R:MR Template 11/5/2012 9:50 AM Page 93