Freedom-class littoral combat ship

For the RCI cruise ship class, see Freedom-class cruise ship.

Freedom class
Freedom, showing a camouflage scheme, on sea trials in February 2013
Class overview
BuildersMarinette Marine
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byN/A
Succeeded byConstellation class[2][3][4][5]
Cost$362 million[1]
Built2005–present
In commission2008–present
Planned16
Building1
Completed16
Active9
Retired5
General characteristics
TypeLittoral combat ship
Displacement3,500 metric tons (3,900 short tons) (full load)[6]
Length378 ft (115 m)
Beam57.4 ft (17.5 m)
Draft12.8 ft (3.9 m)
Installed powerElectrical: 4 Isotta Fraschini V1708 diesel engines, Hitzinger generator units, 800 kW each
Propulsion
Speed47 knots (87 km/h; 54 mph) (sea state 3)[9]
Range3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)[10]
Endurance21 days (336 hours)
Boats & landing
craft carried		11 m (36 ft) RHIB, 12 m (39 ft) high-speed boats
Complement50 core crew, 65 with mission crew (Blue and Gold crews).[11]
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
Aircraft carried

The Freedom class is one of two classes of the littoral combat ship program, built for the United States Navy.[20]

The Freedom class was proposed by a consortium formed by Lockheed Martin as "prime contractor" and by Fincantieri (project) through the subsidiary Marinette Marine (manufacturer) as a contender for a fleet of small, multipurpose warships to operate in the littoral zone. Two ships were approved, to compete with the Independence-class design offered by General Dynamics and Austal for a construction contract of up to fifty-five vessels.

Despite plans in 2004 to only accept two each of the Freedom and Independence variants, in December 2010 the U.S. Navy announced plans to order up to ten additional ships of each class, for a total of twelve ships per class.[21]

In early September 2016, the U.S. Navy announced that the first four vessels of the LCS program, the Freedom class ships Freedom and Fort Worth and two Independence class, would be used as test ships and would not be deployed with the fleet.[22][23] In February 2020, the Navy announced that it plans to retire those same four ships.[24] On 20 June 2020, the US Navy announced that all four would be taken out of commission in March 2021 and placed in inactive reserve.[25][26]

  1. ^ Barrett, Rick (2 April 2015). "Navy orders another combat ship from Marinette Marine". Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  2. ^ "The Navy Is Looking for a New Frigate to Replace the Troubled Littoral Combat Ship". 11 July 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Frigate competition wide open: US Navy specs reveal major design shift". Defense News.[dead link]
  4. ^ Trevithick, Joseph (10 July 2017). "In a Blow to LCS, the US Navy Finally Admits it Needs a Real Frigate". Archived from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  5. ^ Wetzel, Gary (12 July 2017). "The Littoral Combat Ship Is A Disaster And This Is The Solution". Foxtrot Alpha. Jalopnik. Archived from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Littoral Combat Ship Class – LCS". America's Navy. US Navy. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  7. ^ "LCS". Fincantieri. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Colt-Pielstcik PA6B-STC". Fairbanks Morse. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  9. ^ Ewing, Phillip (19 May 2009). "Refueling tops list of LCS crew challenges". NavyTimes. Retrieved 14 March 2015. (subscription required)
  10. ^ "LCS Littoral Combat Ship". Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  11. ^ Cavas, Christopher P. (6 January 2014). "Next LCS Deployment To Last 16 Months". defensenews.com. Gannett Government Media Corporation. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  12. ^ a b c "Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) High-Speed Surface Ship". www.naval-technology.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  13. ^ "TRS-4D radar finishes factory acceptance test". www.shephardmedia.com. The Shephard News. 14 November 2016. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  14. ^ "AN/SQR-20". deagel.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Littoral Combat Ship at the Joint Meeting INTERNATIONAL HYDROFOIL SOCIETY SNAME Panel SD-5" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2012.
  16. ^ "Littoral Combat Ship". Navsea – NSWC Dahlgren Division. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Q & A with the U.S. Navy on Lockheed Martin Hellfire missiles for Littoral Combat Ships". navyrecognition.com. 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  18. ^ Littoral Combat Ship Will Field Laser Weapon as Part of Lockheed Martin, Navy Test. USNI News. 13 January 2020.
  19. ^ Freedburg Jr., Sydney J. (17 December 2014). "Fire Scout Grows Up: Drone Getting Radar, Rockets, 2016 IOC". Breakingdefense.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  20. ^ "US Navy Fact File: LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP CLASS – LCS". United States Department of the Navy. Archived from the original on 2 March 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  21. ^ Special from Navy Office of Information (29 December 2010). "Littoral Combat Ship Contract Award Announced" (Press release). United States Navy. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  22. ^ "U.S. Navy announces Littoral Combat Ship program overhaul". Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  23. ^ Brad Lendon and Ryan Browne (12 September 2016). "US Navy overhauls troubled littoral combat ship program". CNN. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  24. ^ Kyle Mizokami (12 February 2020). "The Navy Wants to Retire a Ship That's Only Six Years Old". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  25. ^ Trevithick, Joseph (1 July 2020). "Navy Will Mothball Its First Four Littoral Combat Ships In Nine Months If Congress Lets It". thedrive.com. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  26. ^ Larter, David B. (1 July 2020). "US Navy's first 4 littoral combat ships to leave the fleet in 9 months". DefenseNews.com. Retrieved 29 August 2020.