Calling all Freedom-class LCS fans

[Tracy White]

Here's the photos up on the Navy.mil galleries of her new scheme (as of March 3 2013)

Dated March 1st:
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144601
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144600
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144599
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144598
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144597

Dated February 22:
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144329
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144328
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144327
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144326
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144325
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144324
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144323
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144322
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144321

Dated February 21:
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=144328

[davidwaples]

Thanks for posting those links Tracy. Excellent reference material!
Dave

[Timmy C]

A good shot showing Freedom's stern bay from her Singapore IMDEX day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lockheedma ... 568811046/

And one of her hangar: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lockheedma ... 568811046/

[Tracy White]

Nice! I was unaware that LM had a Flikr account....
Those go well with ones recently posted by the Navy in her hangar:
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=151289
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=151288
http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=151162

[navydavesof]

I must say, she's not nearly as impressive in person. When she came to Guam, the crew had nearly nothing good to say about her.

[Tracy White]

I'm not surprised. At this point I think the camouflage scheme is the most interesting thing about her..

[Tracy White]

TimmyC originally brought these up, but I thought I'd post them here (Perhaps we should rename this to Freedom CLASS?)

LCS-3 Fort Worth has jumped on the "retro camo" bandwagon and has started painting in a disruptive scheme:
http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=154334
http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=154333

[AndrexP]

Wish they'd honor tradition by re-using some of the neat WWII Destroyer schemes! Love to see a MS-12(mod) or a true splinter scheme like MS-3X/6D:



Surely they could make minor tweaks to a "legacy" design to accomplish the stated objectives ("Fort Worth was painted with a pattern intended to meet two principal objectives: to conceal hull exhaust ports, to reduce detection and exterior maintenance of the ship when compared to a uniform haze gray paint job.").

('course, we could also ditch the stupid grape cammies and put the bluejackets back in our beloved dungarees!)

[JasonW]

Looks like the GAO is recommending funding be frozen for the LCS program until the Navy can get it fixed.....

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013 ... ESRC=eb.nl

This is going to get interesting.

[Tracy White]

I hope they keep enough funds to at least get Freedom back to the US and not strand the sailors

[JasonW]

I hope they keep enough funds to at least get Freedom back to the US and not strand the sailors

Maybe they could fund a charter flight to get the sailors back and just leave the Freedom where it is.

Problem solved.

[Timmy C]

An excellent photo showing LCS 3's camouflage:

http://i.imgur.com/rN54xPO.jpg

[Tracy White]

I've been keeping my eyes open for good shots of the job completed. Looks fun, but it's another example of someone who doesn't understand disruptive camouflage =/

[Tracy White]

Here's the Navy post of that photo, for caption info:
http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=160413

[navydavesof]

Here's the Navy post of that photo, for caption info:
http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=160413

Nice. That gives me a lot of plausible freedom in choosing a different camo pattern for my LCS-3 Flight II. Excellent

[Rick E Davis]

Tracy,

What purpose would disruptive camo provide anyway with modern sensors?

The better course would be to provide a camo scheme that makes visual acquisition and identification more difficult. (aka countering pirates or very low-tech adversaries with only guns)

[Tracy White]

Well, we all know this is just a moral and "hide the exhaust" move.

But, speaking to this actual pattern, there two serious flaws that affect it on a foundational level. The top-side pattern is using two colors with very little contrast - at any distance, they're just going to blend together and won't provide any disruption at all. The black would be a good contrast, but it's so low low on the hull, that once again, with any distance, it won't be visible.

As far as modern sensors, etc., black is bad for that as the optical trackers LOVE contrast. I've wondered if it would be "worth while" to armor a section of a ship and then paint a big, black, dot over it to attract any missiles that make it through the ECM/defense systems to an area that can shrug off their velocity and payload.

As far as pirates go, I've always felt that Q-ships were what we're missing there, from a strictly military/policing standpoint (I understand there are some legal questions with this, and really we just need to stop the fishing free-for-all that started the pirates and lead to this bit of irony).

[Rick E Davis]

Tracy,

Now THAT is an idea ... the USN should paint the LCS in Carnival, Disney, or other Cruise Ship colors and dress sailors like tourists.

That would be a great morale booster ...

[Tracy White]

I figured they could just paint some fake windows on the hull and cover the gun with a fake life boat.

But I'm sure there's a bunch of sailors who would enjoy the double entendre of having "Mickey Mouse" painted on their hull.

[sirpaul]

Waiting on my Fort Worth kit. I plan on finishing it rather quick. The Camo is what got me over the Freedom but i do like the extra flightdeck size too. Can anyone confirm the colors used? I have an idea but just want to confirm.