US Navy’s new littoral combat ship passes acceptance trials

Vessels

December 17, 2019, by navaltoday

The US Navy’s newest littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS St. Louis, completed acceptance trials in Lake Michigan, Lockheed Martin said.

Now that trials are complete, the newbuild will undergo final outfitting and fine-tuning before delivery.

LCS 19 is the tenth Freedom-variant LCS designed and built by the Lockheed Martin-led industry team and is slated for delivery to the navy early next year.

“The LCS fleet is growing in numbers and capability, and LCS 19’s completion of acceptance trials means the navy will shortly have 10 Freedom-variant fast, focused-mission ships in the fleet,” said Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager, Small Combatants and Ship Systems.

“As each Freedom-variant hull deploys, we seek out and incorporate fleet feedback and lessons learned to roll in capabilities for new hulls. As a result, LCS 19 includes a solid-state radar, upgraded communications suite, increased self-defense capabilities and topside optimization, among other updates.”

In total, there are more than 500,000 nautical miles under the keel of Freedom-variant LCS. The Freedom-variant LCS has completed three successful deployments with a fourth ongoing. In October, LCS 7 (USS Detroit) deployed to the U.S. Southern Command supporting the Martillo campaign – a multinational effort targeting illicit trafficking routes in Central American coastal waters.

LCS is designed to deliver speed to capability and to grow as the missions it serves evolve. Today, the Freedom-variant LCS delivers advanced capability in anti-submarine, surface and mine countermeasure missions. The Freedom-variant LCS is targeted for warfighting upgrades to enhance situational awareness and evolve the ship’s self-defense capabilities.

The focused-mission LCS is designed to support mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions.