USNS Lansing (T-EPF-16) is a Spearhead‑class Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), a high‑speed transport ship operated by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command. It is the 16th EPF and a "Flight II" variant designed to support medical roles as well as troop and cargo transport.
“USNS” stands for United States Naval Ship and is used for non‑commissioned Navy support and auxiliary ships, typically operated by the Military Sealift Command with mostly civilian crews. “USS” stands for United States Ship and is used for commissioned warships in active naval service, crewed by Navy personnel and forming part of the combat fleet.
The christening ceremony for the future USNS Lansing (EPF 16) is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. (CDT) at Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. The principal address will be given by Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao. Expected speakers include Vice Adm. Seiko Okano, Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson (commander, Military Sealift Command), Austal USA president Michelle Kruger, and Scott Bonk of General Dynamics Mission Systems. The ship’s sponsors, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, will perform the traditional bottle‑breaking across the bow.
Austal USA is an American shipbuilder based in Mobile, Alabama, and a subsidiary of Australian company Austal. It builds U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships, including Spearhead‑class Expeditionary Fast Transports and Independence‑class Littoral Combat Ships. For USNS Lansing, Austal USA is the prime builder: the ship is being constructed at Austal’s Mobile shipyard, and the yard is hosting the christening ceremony there.
USNS Lansing is named after Lansing, Michigan, the state’s capital city, honoring its history as a manufacturing hub that has produced military supplies since the Civil War. The ship’s sponsors are Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Representative Lisa McClain (Michigan’s 9th District), who are designated to christen the ship by breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow.
A christening is a ceremonial naming and blessing of a ship—often when it first enters the water—marked by a sponsor breaking a bottle on the bow. A commissioning is a later event that formally places a ship into active naval service (for USNS vessels, this is marked by acceptance into Military Sealift Command service rather than a traditional warship commissioning). For USNS Lansing, the Navy has not yet announced a specific date when it will be accepted into service; after christening, it will still go through outfitting, tests, and trials before entering operational use.
Public sources do not yet state an exact date when USNS Lansing will begin operational service. The Navy and Austal describe the ship as under construction; the christening marks the start of the test and trials phase, after which it will be delivered and placed into service, but no timeline has been publicly released.