US Navy’s 27th littoral combat ship launched

The US Navy’s newest Freedom-class littoral combat ship (LCS) has been christened and launched during a ceremony held at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine Shipyard.

The combat ship was constructed by a team from Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine under a multi-million contract awarded in 2017.

The USS Nantucket was launched sideways into the Menominee River in Marinette, Wisconsin, US. The unit is named in honor of Nantucket island in Massachusetts and it will be

“The LCS Freedom-variant is a resilient, flexible warship, designed to meet the evolving missions of the U.S. Navy. The Lockheed Martin team continues to partner with the U.S. Navy to add lethality and survivability enhancements to the … LCS class and we look forward to continued delivery of these adaptable ships,” Steve Allen, Lockheed Martin Vice President, commented.

The ships in this class are designed to complete close-to-shore missions and represent a growing and relevant part of the Navy’s fleet.

They are armed with rolling airframe missiles (RAM) and a Mark 110 gun and are capable of achieving speed up to 40 knots.

With 40 percent of the hull easily reconfigurable, LCS can be modified to integrate capabilities including over-the-horizon missiles, advanced electronic warfare systems (SEWIP) and decoys (Nulka), and in future, vertical launching systems or laser weapon systems.

So far, Lockheed Martin has delivered 10 ships to the U.S. Navy. There are also six ships in various stages of production.