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Littoral combat ship

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The USS Freedom (LCS-1) at her commissioning. Freedom is the United States Navy's first littoral combat ship to be commissioned as a warship.

Two classes of Littoral Combat Ships are the first examples of the U.S. Navy's next-generation surface combatants: the Freedom Class and the Independence Class. Intended as a relatively small surface vessel for operations in the littoral zone (close to shore), the LCS designs are slightly smaller than the Navy's guided missile frigates, and have been compared to the corvette of international usage. However, the LCS designs add the capabilities of a small assault transport with a flight deck and hangar large enough to base two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, the capability to recover and launch small boats from a stern ramp, and enough cargo volume and payload to deliver a small assault force with armored vehicles to a roll-on/roll-off port facility. The standard armament for the LCS are Mk 110 57 mm guns, while modules containing Non-Line-of-Sight Launch Systems or Mark 54 MAKO Lightweight Torpedoes[citation needed] are available. It will also be able to launch autonomous air, surface, and underwater vehicles.[1] Although the LCS designs offer less air defense and surface-to-surface capabilities than comparable destroyers, the LCS concept emphasizes speed, flexible mission module space and a shallow draft.

Concept

The concept behind the littoral combat ship, as described by Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England, is to "create a small, fast, maneuverable and relatively inexpensive member of the DD(X) family of ships." The ship is easy to reconfigure for different roles, including anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, homeland defense, maritime intercept, special operations, and logistics. Due to its modular design, the LCS will be able to replace slower, more specialized ships such as minesweepers and larger assault ships.

Development and funding

Showing the ship class from the side.

The United State Navy's first littoral combat ship was Sea Fighter, which was launched in 2003. The ship designed with SWATH type hull and designated as Fast Sea Frame or FSF-1.[2] The ship was put into service in 2005 and serves as an experimental test bed ship using mission modules.[3]

In 2004, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Raytheon submitted preliminary designs to the Navy. It was decided to produce two vessels each (Flight 0) of the Lockheed Martin design (LCS-1 and LCS-3) and of the General Dynamics design (LCS-2 and LCS-4). After these are brought into service, and experience has been gathered on the usability and efficiency of the designs, the future design for the class will be chosen (Flight I). This may be a decision to use one or the other design in whole, or a combined form made by selecting features from each, or a mixed fleet of both designs. The Navy currently plans to build 55 of these ships.

On 9 May, 2005, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England announced that the first LCS would be named USS Freedom (LCS-1). Her keel was laid down on 2 June 2005 at Marinette Marine, Marinette, Wisconsin.[4] The contract to build the ship was managed by Lockheed's Maritime Systems and Sensors (MS2) division, directed by Fred Moosally.[5] On 23 September, 2006, LCS-1 was christened and launched at the Marinette Marine shipyard.[6]

On 19 January, 2006, the keel for the General Dynamics trimaran, USS Independence (LCS-2), was laid at the Austal USA shipyards in Mobile, Alabama. LCS-2 was launched 30 April 2008.

On 12 April, 2007, the Navy canceled the contract with Lockheed Martin for the construction of LCS-3 after negotiations to control cost overruns failed.[7] The second General Dynamics ship (LCS-4) was also canceled on November 1, 2007[8] after similar cost overruns on their first ship. The Navy currently plans a brand new bidding process for the next three ships, with the winner building two ships and the loser only one.[9]

On 8 November, 2008, the USS Freedom (LCS-1) was commissioned in Veteran's Park, Milwaukee, WI.

In the September 26, 2008 U.S. Presidential debate, John McCain denounced the littoral combat ship as an example of botched contracting procedures that drive up the costs of ships unnecessarily.[10]

In March 2009, Secretary of the Navy Donald Winters announced that the third ship would be named the USS Fort Worth after Fort Worth, Texas [11] and the fourth ship would be named the USS Coronado after Coronado, California.[12][13]

In March 2009, United States House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Chairman Gene Taylor (Mississippi) criticized the lack of cost controls on the LCS program, saying that during his tour of the Austal shipyard that "I saw absolutely no effort being made to save the taxpayers a dime."[14] Also in March 2009, the Navy renewed the contract with Lockheed to build its second LCS, the USS Fort Worth (LCS-3).[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) High-Speed Surface Ship, USA." naval-technology.com
  2. ^ http://www.nicholsboats.com/x-craft.htm
  3. ^ http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=19463
  4. ^ "Keel Laid for First Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom." Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs. 3 June 2005
  5. ^ *O'Rourke, Ronald (October 9, 2008). "Coast Guard Deepwater Acquisition Programs: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  6. ^ "First Littoral Combat Ship Christened." Navy News. 25 September 2006
  7. ^ "Navy Cancels Lockheed Ship Deal" (Press release). Washington Post. 2007-04-13. Retrieved 2007-07-22. {{cite press release}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  8. ^ "U.S.Navy Press Release No. 1269-07" (Press release). 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2007-11-01. {{cite press release}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  9. ^ "Navy Restarting Contest for Halted Shipbuilding Program" (Press release). Washington Post. 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2008-04-30. {{cite press release}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  10. ^ "Transcript of presidential debate - CNN.com". CNN. 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2008-09-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ Navy Names Littoral Combat Ship USS Fort Worth
  12. ^ Navy Names Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado
  13. ^ San Diego Union-Tribune, Future Warship To Bear The City's Name, March 15, 2009.
  14. ^ Press-Register, Congressman's suggestion to open LCS competition could take jobs away from Mobile
  15. ^ *Washington Post (March 24, 2009). "National Briefing: Lockheed Gets Second Ship Deal" (Newspaper article). Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
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