The Ship Model Forum

First LCS deploys to European waters in 6th Fleet
By Megan Eckstein
Thursday, May 5

WASHINGTON � A littoral combat ship is headed to European waters for the first time, with the Freedom-variant LCS Sioux City leaving its Florida home port to operate in U.S. 6th Fleet�s area of responsibility.

The deployment is years in the making, after the Navy intended to push an LCS into 6th Fleet in 2020 but was hindered by a classwide technical flaw that emerged.


The fleet�s area of responsibility includes waters in Europe and Africa, but the Navy did not state specifically where the ship may operate.

�Sioux City�s deployment allows us to integrate the LCS� unique operational capability into our already diverse fleet,� 6th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Gene Black said in a Navy news release. �The agility of Littoral Combat Ships allows them to operate in both near-shore and open-ocean environments, enhancing our ability to provide security and stability across the European theater.�

The San Diego-based LCSs have made more progress operationally, with the first deployment to the Western Pacific taking place in 2013 and the Independent-variant LCSs having a routine presence there since 2019. However, on the East Coast, Freedom-variant ships struggled with technical issues.

(...SNIPPED)

Freedom LCS community to tackle mine warfare, grow its footprint in 2022
By Megan Eckstein
Jan 10, 07:00 AM

NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. � This year, the troubled Freedom-variant littoral combat ship will look to catch up with its Independence-class counterparts, which were fielded faster and expanded their operations more broadly in the last several years.

It was just two years ago that the U.S. Navy�s first Freedom LCS deployed from Florida, with Detroit�s maiden deployment kicking off routine operations out of the East Coast�s LCS hub in Jacksonville, Florida.

(...SNIPPED)

US Navy to christen ship named for Australian capital
6 hrs ago
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) � The Navy will christen a ship made in Alabama on Saturday, naming it after Australia�s capital city.
The littoral combat ship will be the second ship named the USS Canberra, according to a Navy news release sent Friday.
Australian Ambassador Arthur Sinodinos will give the main speech and his wife, Elizabeth Anne Sinodinos, will break a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow.
(...SNIPPED)

Navy Unveils Surprise Plan For Littoral Combat Ships
Every LCS will be equipped with the new Naval Strike Missile as well as either anti-submarine or anti-mine capabilities within 18 months, CNO Adm. Michael Gilday told the HAC-D today.
By PAUL MCLEARYon April 29, 2021 at 2:15 P
WASHINGTON: The Navy plans to put its new Naval Strike Missile on 31 of its 35 Littoral Combat ships over the next 18 months, while outfitting 15 ships with an anti-submarine module, and 15 others with anti-mine capabilities.
That breakneck pace of the proposed LCS upgrades is the clearest sign yet of the Navy�s concern over its being outgunned by the Chinese surface navy, and the premium being placed on keeping eye on new generations of capable Chinese and Russian submarines prowling below.
The new details were offered by Adm. Mike Gilday in testimony before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, representing his most ambitious public comments concerning the LCS fleet to date.
The LCS class has struggled to find a place in the fleet after its original mission modules � designed to be moved on and off ships given whatever mission they were performing � failed to develop as planned. But Adm. Mike Gilday told the committee today, �we�re very bullish on LCS� moving forward, a departure from previous comments where he portrayed the class as a problem to be surmounted.
Earlier this year, the Navy announced it would stop accepting delivery of the Lockheed Martin-built Freedom-class LCS while the company tests and fixes a major propulsion issue found on all 16 ships. The halt was another black eye for a program that has yet to prove its utility, despite the delivery of around 20 ships across two classes over the past decade.
(...SNIPPED)

Navy�s Littoral Combat Ships Will Be on the Front Lines in the Pacific, SWO Boss Says
13 Jan 2021
Military.com | By Gina Harkins
After years of setbacks, the Navy's littoral combat ships are going to see a surge in missions in the Pacific, where leaders say they'll be out front as the U.S. seeks to counter China's growing influence in the region.
The Navy has identified the missions the LCS will fulfill in U.S. 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, commander of Naval Surface Forces, said this week."If you look at the things we want to do and the 7th Fleet ... that's what [Vice Adm. William Merz] wants to use them for," Kitchener said Tuesday during the annual Surface Navy Association symposium, which is virtual this year due to the pandemic. "And there's a lot of capability there.

(...SNIPPED)

Future Navy Warship Completes Trials on Lake Michigan
25 Aug 2020
MLive.com, Walker, Mich. | By Brandon Champion

A future U.S. Navy combat ship completed acceptance trials in Lake Michigan over the weekend setting the stage for it to be commissioned in 2021.

Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 21, the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, passed several trials including a full-power run, maneuverability testing and surface and air detect-to-engage demonstrations of the ship's combat system.

(...SNIPPED)

US Navy commissions another Littoral Combat Ship amid renewed push to fix the program
By: David B. Larter ? 20 hours ago
WASHINGTON � The U.S. Navy Saturday commissioned its latest littoral combat ship amid a top-level push to fix the ship�s nagging reliability issues and forge a path to make the small surface combatants useful in the years ahead.
The monohull Freedom-variant LCS St. Louis was commissioned at a private event in its namesake city, the 22nd LCS and 10th Freedom variant to join the fleet. There will be 35 LCS in the fleet once all are commissioned.
Change is in the wind for LCS once again, which has already seen several shakeups to its system. A high-level effort is underway to address problems with its complicated drive train built for high speeds that have limited the ships availability for tasking as well as to finally field its long-delayed mission packages. Mission package

Lockheed Martin to Integrate Layered Laser Defense Weapon Aboard LCS
Lockheed Martin received an Office of Naval Research (ONR) contract to integrate a prototype Layered Laser Defense (LLD) weapon system aboard a U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
Xavier Vavasseur 10 Mar 2020
The $22.4 million contract, calls for the integration, demonstration, testing and operation of the Layered Laser Defense (LLD) weapon system prototype onboard a Navy littoral combat ship while that vessel is underway.
The U.S. Defense Department contract notice further details that: �Key areas of work to be performed include development of a prototype structure and enclosure to protect the LLD from ships motion and maritime environment in a mission module format; system integration and test with government-furnished equipment; platform integration and system operational verification and test; systems engineering; test planning; data collection and analysis support; and operational demonstration. Work is expected to be complete by July 2021.�
Our colleagues from USNI News reported in January this year that USS Little Rock (LCS-9) would receive a laser weapon during its upcoming deployment, citing Commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Richard Brown.
At SNA 2020, the Surface Navy Association�s national symposium held earlier this year, Lockheed Martin was showcasing a Freedom-class LCS scale model fitted with a laser weapon system. Chris Cavas interviewed for Naval News Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin Vice President and General Manager of Small Combatants and Ship Systems, about the model:
(...SNIPPED)

Naval Station Mayport's Newest Warship Welcomed by US Navy
The Navy prepares to christen the future littoral combat ship USS St. Louis
7 Feb 2020
The Florida Times-Union | By Dan Scanlan

The U.S. Navy's newest littoral combat ship is one step closer to its Naval Station Mayport dock after the future USS St. Louis was officially delivered by Lockheed Martin.

The almost 390-foot-long ship is the 10th Freedom-variant LCS designed, built and delivered, and will be commissioned in early August in Pensacola, the manufacturer said.
(...SNIPPED)

Navy LCS Gun Could Get Potent Airburst Rounds to Take Out Drones
16 Jan 2020
Military.com | By Gina Harkins
Crews on Navy littoral combat ships could soon be armed with powerful rounds that can blast hard-to-hit drones out of the sky.
Northrop Grumman, which produces modules for the LCS based on its mission, is eyeing a powerful precision airburst munition to combat drones targeting ships at sea. The round would be compatible with the 30mm gun module that's already installed on some ships.
(...SNIPPED)

USS Indianapolis Commissioning Set for Saturday at Indiana Port
25 Oct 2019
The Associated Press
BURNS HARBOR, Ind. � The Navy says it will commission its new USS Indianapolis combat vessel at a northwestern Indiana port Saturday.
The ceremony marking the ship's entry into the Navy's active fleet is set to begin at 10 a.m. CDT at Burns Harbor along Lake Michigan. It's the fourth military vessel carrying the Indianapolis name.
The second USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine in July 1945 while returning from a Pacific island where it delivered key components for the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Only 317 of its nearly 1,200 crewmen survived the sinking and days in shark-infested waters.
(...SNIPPED)

USS Gabrielle Giffords Is The 1st LCS To Get Its Full Load Of Next Gen NSM Missiles
Xavier Vavasseur 29 Sep 2019

U.S. Navy pictures released September 13 show the vessel with its full load of 8 top side launchers, located forward, right ahead the bridge.

This was confirmed by General Dynamics Mission Systems in a statement released September 26, unveiling on the same occasion the official designation of the NSM in U.S. Navy service: MK 87 Mod 0.

(...SNIPPED)

The Navy's New Pacific Maintenance Team Can Fix an LCS on the Fly
13 Sep 2019
Military.com | By Gina Harkins
A new support site at a Singapore Navy base is shaking up the way the service maintains its long-criticized littoral combat ships as the vessels start to resume overseas missions.

Sailors, Navy civilians and contractors are manning a new maintenance support center at Changi Naval Base, Singapore. Members of the crew not only work on the littoral combat ship Montgomery when it pulls into port there, but also as it operates in other parts of the region.

(...SNIPPED)

Navy to Commission Newest Littoral Combat Ship on Saturday
2 Aug 2019
Florida Keys Keynoter | By Gwen Filosa
The Navy will commission its newest warship, the USS Billings, on Aug. 3 in Key West, Florida. A ceremony at Naval Air Station Key West's Truman Harbor is expected to draw 2,000 people.
The 10 a.m. ceremony is open to the public, but tickets are required and they ran out last month.
Everyone entering the base must show a ticket, along with a valid state or federal-issued photo identification at the gate.
If you can't attend Saturday's ceremony, the Navy will livestream the event. The link will not become active until five minutes before the 10 a.m. ceremony.
Related: US Navy Commander Relieved After LCS Hits a Cargo Ship in Canada
The first ship named for Montana's largest city, the 378-foot Billings weighs 3,500 metric tons and can reach a speed of 45 knots, according to the commissioning committee.
(...SNIPPED)

New USS Indianapolis Commissioning Set for Indiana Port
23 Jul 2019
The Associated Press

BURNS HARBOR, Ind. � The Navy is planning to commission its new USS Indianapolis combat vessel at a northwestern Indiana port this fall.

The ceremony marking the ship's entry into the Navy's active fleet is set for Oct. 26 at Burns Harbor along Lake Michigan. It is the fourth military vessel carrying the Indianapolis name.

The second USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine in July 1945 while returning from a Pacific island where it delivered key components for the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Only 317 of its nearly 1,200 crewmen survived the sinking and days in shark-infested waters.

The ship was built at a Marinette, Wisconsin, shipyard and will be based near Jacksonville, Florida. It is a Freedom-class littoral ship designed to be highly maneuverable for missions such as mine-clearing and anti-submarine warfare.