If Austal is awarded the contract, 2,000 more jobs will be created at the company's Mobile, Alabama shipyard, adding to Austal's current US workforce of 1,500.
The LCS program began in 2002 with the US Navy's pursuit of a new class of up to 55 ships for multi-mission support.
The LCS is envisioned to be a versatile, networked, agile, surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals.
In October 2005, Austal, as a part of the General Dynamics LCS team, was one of two bidders awarded a landmark construction contract for one of two LCS Flight 0 ships, USS Independence (LCS 2), followed by a contract to build a second Independence-class LCS Flight 0 ship, Coronado (LCS 4), in May 2009.
Austal is now the prime contractor bidding for the 10-ship program plus five additional sets of Selected Ship System Equipment for the second source shipbuilder.
While General Dynamics Bath Iron Works remains the prime contractor on Coronado (LCS 4), Austal and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works revoked their current teaming arrangement in February 2010 to allow General Dynamics Bath Iron Works to compete for the proposed "second source" competition for the winning design.
The delivered Final Revised Proposal consisted of almost 70,000 pages and a decision is expected by the Navy sometime in August.
"Austal USA has come a long way from first arriving in Mobile, the silicon valley of shipbuilding, ten years ago," Austal USA President and COO Joe Rella said.
"By leveraging the shipbuilding experience gained in Australia, the lessons learned from the LCS and Joint High Speed Vessel programs, our investment in facilities, combined with the best shipbuilders in the world, we have created the critical mass necessary to provide the lowest-risk and best-valued solution as prime contractor for this program.
"Without a doubt, we offer the most innovative, efficient, and capable vessel to the Navy."
Austal USA's first 127-metre trimaran LCS, USS Independence (LCS 2), recently sailed away from Austal's shipyard to join the fleet at its current location in Norfolk, Virginia.
Austal has under construction the second Flight 0 Independence Class LCS, Coronado (LCS 4), and the first of three contracted 103-metre Joint High Speed Vessels, Spearhead (JHSV 1), part of a joint contract between the US Army and US Navy.
The keel-laying ceremony for Spearhead is scheduled to take place at Austal's shipyard on July 22, 2010.