US Navy Turns to Australia for Ship

ABC News of Australia reports that the US Navy has purchased a ship from the Australian company Austal. The high-speed troop transport will be built in a US shipyard and the contract has future options for 9 more vessels. The initial contract value is over $2 B Australian.
While it is not unique for the US military to buy overseas designed equipment, this certainly represents one of the larger such contracts. The US also has not often purchased ships from foreign sources. Even thought this is just a non-combat vessel it is still an important contract award and demonstrates that the US is willing to buy the best equipment despite the source.