Littoral Combat Ships (LCS)

Jeff Head said:

Yes. Eight (four of each type) in the water now.

Two of each type (four in total) to be delivered next year, which will make a total of twelve.

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Jura said:

Jeff (or anybody), I have a tough question for you, so first I better say I don't attack any warship -- as I'm located in the middle of Europe, I couldn't even if I wanted -- I found the most recent Report

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and the question is if there are weight allowances for significantly changing the armament of the USN LCS? I mean one could think of some additional weaponry to be added, but what's important is:

Status of Recent Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Service Life Allowances

in that document, isn't it?

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Last week Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) demonstrated the ability to rapidly stage and deploy a U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) ground unit. Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadrons 469 and 303 conducted day and night deck-landing qualifications in preparation for an airborne raid of Marines from the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion onboard USS Coronado.

The ship’s inherent qualities, including speeds in excess of 40 knots, its large flight deck and reconfigurable mission bay, proved that littoral combat ships (LCS) can provide the Navy and USMC with significant operational flexibility anywhere in the world.

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The U.S. Navy Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City hosted a two-week demonstration in July that verified Sailors' ability to conduct maintenance on the Littoral Combat Ship's Mine Countermeasure Mission Package without the assistance of civilian scientists or engineers.

The Littoral Combat Ship Mine Countermeasure Mission Package (LCS MCM MP) Sustainment Demonstration (S-Demo) puts the Navy a step closer to transitioning mine countermeasure mission modules to the fleet, offering Joint Force Commanders mine detection and neutralization capability that does not put ships at risk in minefields.

The LCS MCM mission package conducts its mine countermeasures operations through the employment of aviation assets and unmanned surface, semi-submersible, and submersible vehicles, equipped with an array of sensors and systems to detect, localize, neutralize, and sweep mines. These systems are designed to be employed while the LCS remains outside the mine threat area. Future mission package increments add capability, including beach zone mine detection, mine sweeping, near surface mine neutralization, and buried and surf zone mine detection.

LCS MCM MP Features:

Remote Minehunting Module
» AN/WLD-1(V) Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV) (2)
» AQS-20A
» Cradle Pallet Assembly
» Capture Spine
» Support Containers

Near Surface Detection Module
» MH-60S Helicopter
» AN/AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS)
» Support Containers

Airborne Mine Neutralization Module
» MH-60S Helicopter
» AN/ASQ-235 Airborne Mine Neutralization Systems (AMNS)
» EX 64 neutralizers
» Support Containers

Coastal Mine Reconnaissance Module
» AN/DVS-1 Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) System
» MQ-8B Vertical Takeoff Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV)
» Support Containers

Unmanned Mine Sweeping Module
» Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV)
» Unmanned Surface Sweep System (USSS)
» Support Containers

Buried Mine Hunting Module
» Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (SMCM UUV) (Knifefish)
» Launch, handling and recovery equipment
» Support Containers

Mission Package Application Software (MPAS)
» Mission specific application software that support the MP in planning and executing the MCM missions
» Mine Warfare and Environmental Decision Aids Library (MEDAL)

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USS Independence (LCS 2 ) successfully completed Special Trials (ST), a series of at-sea tests on Aug. 2, following the ship's participation in the multinational Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises that took place throughout the month of July. Independence, funded as a research development test and evaluation ship, conducted an ST instead of the usual Final Contract Trial (FCT).

The successful ST for LCS 2 was conducted off the Hawaiian coast where the ship underwent a series of specific tests under the supervision of the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). Specific tests included; anchoring, launch and recovery of Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats, firing exercises using the 57mm gun, and full power propulsion and maneuvering tests.

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A research group is calling on lawmakers to cancel the Littoral Combat Ship, the U.S. Navy’s newest type of surface combatant, months after the Pentagon cut the number of vessels it plans to buy.

The Center for International Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that promotes global demilitarization and dates to the Vietnam War, on Tuesday released a report, titled, “Cancel the Littoral Combat Ship, A Warship that Can’t Go to War.”

Two types of LCS vessels are being built by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Austal, respectively. While different in design, they’re both meant to patrol coastal waterways and hunt for mines, small boats and submarines.


Regardless of whether it’s Lockheed’s conventional hull or Austal’s trimaran, the vessel is too lightly armored to survive a direct hit from a cruise missile, too heavy to easily accommodate future upgrades and too far behind in development, according to Jacob Marx, a research associate at the group and the author of the analysis.

“The LCS was meant to do a dozen things, and it has ended up doing none of them well,” he said in a press release. “It’s an overpriced, under-performing vessel that does not meet current needs.”

His colleague, William Hartung, director of the group’s Arms and Security Project, which tracks the international weapons trade, agreed. “At $780 million per mission-ready ship, the LCS is a bad deal for taxpayers,” he said.

Due in part to federal budget cuts known as sequestration, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in February announced that the Pentagon would slash the number of ships it planned to buy, from 52 to 32. “No new contract negotiations beyond 32 ships will go forward,” he said.

Both contractors are building ships — Lockheed in Marinette, Wisconsin, and Austal in Mobile, Alabama — under a pair of ten-ship, block-buy contracts awarded in 2010, according to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service.

The Navy had previously planned to buy a total of four ships per year, two from each contractor, but reduced that figure to three in its budget request for fiscal 2015, which begins Oct. 1.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, headed by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, in July voted to agree with the service’s budget proposal for three ships — and to add $80 million for the advance procurement of materials for a ship to be built the following year. However, the House Appropriations Committee, headed by Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers, R-Kentucky, the month prior voted to further reduce the quantity of ships to two, noting it was “extremely concerned” by Hagel’s comments.

The panel “believes that if the current LCS is not the correct small surface combatant of the future, the Navy should correct its course sooner rather than later and begin purchasing the correct ship well before fiscal year 2019,” according to a report accompanying its version of the defense spending bill. The committee “was surprised that the Secretary of Defense allowed so much time to pass before ensuring the correct small surface combatant begins construction,” the document states.

Congress is currently on recess and hasn’t yet passed either a defense policy or spending bill for next year.

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Bernard said:

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Bernard said:

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Jeff Head said:

They have already cancelled about 24 of the vessels.

At this stage I do not belive that they will cancel the others, especially with seven in the water and five more building. The first 12 are a done deal, and I believe the second 12 will also almost certainly be built.

What they most certainly should do is upgrade the armament, particularly the anti-surface fit. IMHO, if each LCS received an eight cell Mk-41 with four LRASM and 16 ESSMs, it would alleviate those issues. Have them go to sea with the 57mm gun, the RAM or SeaRAM, the VLS, two hels, and the towed array as a standard fit.

Then, as the need dictated, apply the MCM module, or the swarming speed boat weaponry as necessary.

Anyhow, that's just my opinion.

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