Littoral combat ship

Not to be confused with Coastal defence ship.

Ships of the United States Navy
Ships in current service
Ships grouped alphabetically
Ships grouped by type
The U.S. trimaran USS Independence
USS Freedom on sea trials in February 2013 before her first deployment

A littoral combat ship (LCS) is either of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for near-shore operations by the United States Navy. It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals",[1] although their ability to perform these missions in practice has been called into question.[2]

Littoral combat ships are comparable to corvettes found in other navies.[3][4] The Freedom class and the Independence class are the two LCS variants. Each is slightly smaller than the U.S. Navy's earlier Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate but larger than Cyclone-class patrol ships. Each has the capabilities of a small assault transport, including a flight deck and hangar for housing two SH-60 or MH-60 Seahawk helicopters, a stern ramp for operating small boats, and the cargo volume and payload to deliver a small assault force with fighting vehicles to a roll-on/roll-off port facility. Standard armaments include Mk 110 57 mm guns and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles. They are also equipped with autonomous air, surface, and underwater vehicles. Possessing lower air defense and surface warfare capabilities than destroyers, the LCS emphasizes speed, flexible mission modules, and a shallow draft.

The first LCS, USS Freedom (LCS-1), was commissioned on 8 November 2008 in Veteran's Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[5] The second ship, the trimaran USS Independence (LCS-2), was commissioned on 16 January 2010, in Mobile, Alabama.[6] In 2012, ADM Jonathan W. Greenert stated that the LCS would be deployed to Africa in place of destroyers and cruisers.[7] In 2013 and 2014, the Navy's requirement for LCSs was progressively cut from 55 to 32 vessels in favor of a newly proposed frigate more capable of high-intensity combat.[8] In late 2014, the Navy proceeded with a procurement plan for enhanced versions of the LCS and upgraded older ships to meet the program's 52-ship requirement;[9] the modified LCS will be redesignated as FF, or frigate.[10][11] In December 2015, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter ordered the Navy to reduce planned LCS and FF procurement from 52 to 40 and downselect to one variant by FY 2019.[12]

In July 2017, the Navy released a request for information for a new multi-mission guided-missile frigate that can perform the same roles as the LCS while having better offensive and defensive capabilities. Almost any existing design that can be adapted to FFG(X) requirements can be considered, extending beyond versions of the two LCS hulls.[13][14] In April 2020, it was announced that Fincantieri Marinette Marine had won the contract with its FREMM multi-purpose frigate-based design, which would be eventually adopted as the Constellation-class frigate.[15]

  1. ^ "Product Lines at Supship Bath". Navsea.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  2. ^ "The Pentagon Saw a Warship Boondoggle. Congress Saw Jobs". The New York Times. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  3. ^ Ben Brimelow (1 December 2017). "Russia's new missile laden-ships shouldn't worry NATO commanders". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Here is Why the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ships Punch below Their Weight | the National Interest". Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  5. ^ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (5 November 2008). "Navy's Vessel of Versatility" (Newspaper article). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference USS Independence Commissioned was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "LCS Couldn't Survive War With China, But It Could Help Prevent It: CNO". defense.aol.com. 12 April 2012. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  8. ^ Cavas, Christopher P. (19 January 2014). "Navy, Pentagon battle over LCS future". navytimes.com. Gannett Government Media. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  9. ^ Osborn, Kris (11 December 2014). "Hagel Approves Navy's Proposal to Build More Lethal LCS Variant". military.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  10. ^ LaGrone, Sam (15 January 2015). "SNA: Modified Littoral Combat Ships to be Designated Frigates". USNI News. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017.
  11. ^ Myers, Meghann (7 August 2017). "SECNAV unveils new name for LCS: the 'fast frigate'". Navy Times. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference militarytimes17dec15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Frigate competition wide open: Navy specs reveal major design shift [dead link‍] – Defensenews.com, 10 July 2017
  14. ^ Navy Releases Details of New FFG(X) Guided-Missile Frigate Program in Request to Industry Archived 11 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine – News.USNI.org, 10 July 2017
  15. ^ "Report to Congress on Constellation-class Frigate Program (FFG-62)". USNI News. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.