Littoral Combat Ships (LCS)

Re: US Navy LCS-2 Independence Floated/Launched

I would like it to mount a bigger gun. The 57mm does not seem sufficient for actual shore bombardment (I imagine it would be rather embarrassing if the other guy had a 130mm artillery piece with laser guided munitions)

Re: US Navy LCS-2 Independence Floated/Launched

I love the LCS concept, but the price tag of $636 million gets a thumbs down. For that much you can afford a FREMM FFG (EUR 350-450) at twice the tonnage. Need fire support? The Italian FREMM will be equipped with Oto Melara 127/64 5" cannon with Vulcano munitions (70km-120 km range!).

Light frigates (<3,000 ton displacement) are not supposed to be your "capital" ships (i.e. Aegis DDG), they should be built under strict design and cost constraints. Something like $250-300 million (1/4th the price of AB DDG) would've been more acceptable.

Re: US Navy LCS-2 Independence Floated/Launched

Naval-Technology.com is now running feature articles. This one on the LCS program, or more precisely what went wrong with it.

Re: US Navy LCS-2 Independence Floated/Launched

crobato said:

Naval-Technology.com is now running feature articles. This one on the LCS program, or more precisely what went wrong with it.

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In late 2004, just as the detailed design phase was concluding, the navy decided that the LCS had to be able to withstand direct attacks and absorb some damage without sinking. The Navy had badly misjudged the potency of the emerging threat. The new big picture invalidated many of the old design details, requiring over a year of work to be redone.

In a separate initiative the navy had been revising its shipbuilding code. The new construction meant everything had to be more resilient and redundant. Consequently, COTS components would no longer suffice.


x_X;;; Wouldn't it be common sense to design warships to withstand attacks without sinking easily?

The original cost estimate of $220 million per ship is about right. Even with inflation and added costs, the final product shouldn't be more than 250-300 million per ship.

Re: US Navy LCS-2 Independence Floated/Launched

adeptitus said:

In late 2004, just as the detailed design phase was concluding, the navy decided that the LCS had to be able to withstand direct attacks and absorb some damage without sinking. The Navy had badly misjudged the potency of the emerging threat. The new big picture invalidated many of the old design details, requiring over a year of work to be redone.

In a separate initiative the navy had been revising its shipbuilding code. The new construction meant everything had to be more resilient and redundant. Consequently, COTS components would no longer suffice.


x_X;;; Wouldn't it be common sense to design warships to withstand attacks without sinking easily?

The original cost estimate of $220 million per ship is about right. Even with inflation and added costs, the final product shouldn't be more than 250-300 million per ship.

Click to expand...

I think the primary issue with LCS was that both the customer (USN) didn't know what they wanted, and the builders and project managers erred on the optimistic side when guessing the budget and the complexity of the project itself.

Re: Littoral Combat Ships (LCS); Which is best?

French/DCN Gowind Corvette:

Gowind 120:



Gowind 170:



Gowind 200:







The Gowind 200 class has 1,950 ton displacement, carries 16 x VL-SAM (Aster-15 or VL-MICA), 8 x SSM (Exocet or Harpoon), and 10 ton helicopter in aft. The ship has a CODAD propulsion system, including water-jets for shallow water and high-speed performance. Estimated price based on 4 Gowind 200 for Bulgaria is $900 million Euros for 4 ships. However it was reported in Dec 7, 2007 that Bulgaria was able to negotiate the price down to $780 million Euros, or 195 million EUR each:



Gowind is designed to deploy Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) and Underwater Unmanned Vehicles (UUVs), though it lacks the full mission module system in Denmark’s Standard Flex 300 corvettes or the USA’s Littoral Combat ships. An aft deck has been provided allowing for up to 10-ton class helicopters, or even Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) launch. The weapon system builds around a Setis combat system with a multi-functional radar, and 16 vertical-launch cells for Aster 15 or Mica-VL anti-air missiles. It can also be armed with 8 MM40 Exocet or Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and carries a naval gun.

Re: Littoral Combat Ships (LCS); Which is best?

Can anyone tell me where is the engine exhaust on gowind ships? How was that handled and what are the drawbacks of not having an usual solution of a single (or double) large exhaust stack going up through decks?

Re: US Navy LCS

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U.S. Navy Accepts First LCS, Anti-Sub Module

The U.S. Navy took delivery Sept. 18 of its first littoral combat ship, the Freedom, one of two late-week milestones in the Littoral Combat Ship program, along with the scheduled rollout Sept. 19 of the anti-submarine mission module in San Diego. [...]

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The program seems to go ahead much more smoothly now. Maybe a few successes will help ease the program as a whole.
I'm also intent what exactly the navy now does with the ships.
It seems the Gulf of Aden would be a really good spot to place a few LCS with the ASuW package there to eventually step up against piracy.

ff The french just recently did a great job there getting out two citicens, capturing six pirates and killing one. ff

Maybe also the straight of Hormuz to show presence and have a look.

USS Independence LCS2 - Nice Ship

What kind of role will this ship play in the Navy? It looks like you could almost walk down the sides of the ship.











All members are reminded not to hotlink your photos!!

Re: Littoral Combat Ships (LCS); Which is best?

I merged the LCS threads. No need for four LCS threads. Perhaps this will rekindle some interest in this thread.

bd popeye super moderator