DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Navy Names Littoral Combat Ship
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources U.S. DoD Release No: NR-133-15 Dated April 17, 2015(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 17, 2015: Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today that the next Freedom-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) will be named USS St. Louis.
The future USS St. Louis, designated LCS 19, will be the seventh ship to bear the name. The first St. Louis, a sloop of war, was launched in 1828. It spent the majority of its service patrolling the coasts of the Americas to secure interests and trade. In addition, it served as the flagship for the West Indies Squadron working to suppress piracy in the Caribbean Sea, the Antilles and the Gulf of Mexico region.
“The name St. Louis holds a strong naval legacy,” Mabus said. “In this era when our country is faced with similar challenges as our forefathers, it’s important that all who encounter this ship are reminded of the history of our Navy’s bravery and sense of duty.”
The LCS is designed to defeat littoral threats, and provide access and dominance in coastal waters. A fast, agile surface combatant, LCS provides war fighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute focused missions close to the shore, such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and surface warfare.
St. Louis will be built with modular design incorporating mission packages that can be changed out quickly as combat needs demand. These mission packages are supported by detachments that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles, and sensors in support of mine, undersea and surface warfare missions.
The ship will be 388 feet long, have a waterline beam length of 58 feet and make speeds in excess of 40 knots. The construction will be led by a Lockheed Martin industry team in Marinette, Wisconsin.
Additional information about littoral combat ships is available online at: http://www.navy.mil/local/lcsfreedom/
The Lockheed Martin Team
The U.S. Navy’s current Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) are designed to defeat growing littoral threats and provide access and dominance in the coastal water battlespace. A fast, maneuverable surface combatant, the LCS provides warfighting capabilities and operational flexibility for focused missions including mine-clearing, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare.
A flexible and reconfigurable seaframe, LCS derives combat capability from rapidly interchangeable mission modules and an open architecture command and control system. Modularity maximizes the flexibility of LCS and enables commanders to meet changing warfare needs, while also supporting spiral development and technology refresh.
The Lockheed Martin-led team producing the Freedom-variant LCS includes naval architect Gibbs & Cox and ship builder Marinette Marine Corporation, as well as domestic and international teammates. The team’s design, a proven semi-planing steel monohull, provides outstanding agility and high-speed maneuverability. Its common combat system provides commonality with the U.S. Navy’s fleet and allows unprecedented interoperability, while making training more cost effective. The ship’s design also provides flexibility – its shallow draft and narrow beam allow greater access to global ports given existing infrastructure, which is essential for this ship’s missions.
The Lockheed Martin team has designed and delivered two ships for this new class, while another six ships are under construction. The first ship, USS Freedom, was delivered to the Navy in 2008 and successfully completed its first deployment in 2010, two years ahead of schedule. Then, the ship deployed to Southeast Asia in 2013, a journey to be followed by USS Fort Worth in 2014.
USS Fort Worth, the team’s second LCS, was delivered two months early and incorporates improvements from lessons learned on USS Freedom. These includedifferent air compressors, fixes to cooling systems, a 15 percent increase in fuel capacity, and cosmetic changes.
The team’s third LCS, the future USS Milwaukee, was launched and christened in 2013 into the Menominee River at Marinette Marine Corporation (MMC), followed by Detroit (LCS 7) in 2014. The Freedom-variant LCS industry team continues to produce ships at MMC.
Designs provided by the Lockheed Martin industry team are based on configurations marketed to navies around the globe. These configurations, known as the Multi-Mission Combat Ship and Surface Combat Ship, are adaptable and can include proven capabilities such as the Aegis combat system with the SPY-1F (V) radar and the MK 41 Vertical Launching System.
*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources U.S. DoD Release No: NR-133-15 Dated April 17, 2015
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