maxim wrote:
I always had thought that the Streetfighter design was a enlarged fast attack craft and that the weird high speed requirement of the LCS is derived from that design.
For the most part, yes. The mission dictation was to be able to provide counter battery while performing MCM, UUV, and UAV operations near the coast with the ability to defeat small craft swarm assaults, engage in ASuW, self defense and area AAW. A huge part of that was to perform counter artillery fire. A large hangar to accommodate UAVs and a high speed was in there, too. The specific configuration called for the ship to have a "large number of deck guns".
This immediately calls one to the Gearing FRAM I type configuration. After much analysis, my idea is that this would indeed be a Gearing-type configuration on a Perry-length hull (3 deck guns, 2 fwd and 1 aft, with a helo/UAV hangar and landing pad amidships with the stack combined either as the after part of the forward structure or just ahead of the hangar.
Maxim, I would like your input on the above arrangement. Should the stack be attached to the forward structure or the hangar structure?
The radar would be the same as the Bertholf-class NSC with SWIP and the rest of a modern ECM package. The amidships that would typically have sliding padeyes and small craft would be dedicated to 16 ASCMs. The boats would be in a stern well deck like LCS-1 has. Just aft of the stack would be 3 Mk41-cell VLS arranged forward and aft splitting the hangar in two. This configuration could accommodate ESSM and VLASROC while separating the hangar down the middle.
If the Freedom variant is involved, it could only do this if it's strengthened a LOT. While there is volume to house 3 HH-60s, the deck and mission bay load-bearing beams can only hold one before they are projected to buckle, all that space is wasted. A huge strengthening redesign will have to be undertaken.
maxim wrote:
The main problem of the LCS classes are their lightly built hulls and the requirement for high speed. A hull optimised for ASW and economic operations - with a maximum speed of 27-30 kn - would fit much better. It would also allow to built a stronger ship more resistant to damage (the LCS are sometimes described to have a survivability of a civilian ship) and there would be also likely more space for future updates.
I agree. My LCS-1 Flight II thread breaks this down. First off it must be stated that I remove the gas turbine and relying on the diesel engines, strengthening all load bearing members, decks, thicken the hull, and most importantly, increase its draft to add stability.
In that thread, I explain how two 76mm guns, 16-32-cell Mk41 (one port, one starboard of the hangar on the flight deck), 8 Harpoon ASCMs, can all be fitted onto a new build Freedom-class.
However, a build based on the Gearing FRAM I arrangement on a Perry lengthed hull that reflects logical elements of the original mission requirements could accommodate 3x Mk45 Mod4 5" guns, 2x 330 round and one 500 round magazines with 24-32 Mk41 VLS, 8-16 Harpoon ASCMs, a NSC electronics package, two hangars to accommodate a large number of Shadow and ScanEagle UAVs or 2 HH-60s is extremely attractive.
maxim wrote:
The main problem of the LCS classes are their lightly built hulls and the requirement for high speed. A hull optimised for ASW and economic operations - with a maximum speed of 27-30 kn - would fit much better. It would also allow to built a stronger ship more resistant to damage (the LCS are sometimes described to have a survivability of a civilian ship) and there would be also likely more space for future updates.
In my LCS-1 Flight II thread, I explain how a Mk45 Mod4 5" gun with 320 rounds consisting of modern 5"/54 HE/HE-CVT/CCF reaches out to 19nm. Then we could use the 5"/38 rounds we have in the inventory with a CCF (GPS guidance). With the ERGM propellant charge, they could reach out to 30-35nm with precision guidance. Two 76mm guns, 16-32-cell Mk41 (one port, one starboard of the hangar on the flight deck), 8 Harpoon ASCMs, can all be fitted onto a new build Freedom-class
However, a build based on the Gearing FRAM I arrangement on a Perry lengthed hull that reflects logical elements of the original mission requirements could accommodate 3x Mk45 Mod4 5" guns, 2x 330 round and one 500 round magazines (100 of which could be long Excalibur extended range rounds) with 24-32 Mk41 VLS, 8-16 Harpoon ASCMs, a NSC electronics package, two hangars to accommodate a large number of Shadow and ScanEagle UAVs or 2 HH-60s is extremely attractive.