US Navy Plans to Double LCS Fleet Size to Eight Ships by February
The U.S.
is preparing to accept delivery of four more of its shallow-water
between now and February of next year, effectively doubling its current fleet size of the ships and paving the way for more deployments.
"By early next year, the Navy will be operating eight littoral combat ships and we'll be accepting four more by the end of 2016," Johnson told Military.com. “The Navy will continue to accept ships at that rate for the next several years making the LCS class the second largest surface combatant class in the fleet and the key to our ability to operate in shallow, coastal waterways around the world."
When you look at the shipbuilding for these two LCS vessels...they have really stepped it up.
They will be delivering two each from each facility each year for the next several years. That's four Frigate sized vessels per year and is something we have gotten used to seeing in China for the PLAN...but not to this degree recently in the US.
Here's a recent picture from Marinette Marine in Wisconsin with the Freedom ships:
That's three Freedom class vessels outfitting...there would be another two under construction. We will see that pace for the next several years.
And here's one from Austal in Mobile for the Independence ships:
You can see, to the right of the picture, three Independence class vessels there outfitting...two next to the halls, and one above in the final outfitting pool. There are another two in the halls.
Pretty amazing stuff for US shipbuilding.
The US Navy has figured out that all of the Perry's are going to be gone real soon and they have kicked it into high gear. with the upgrades for these LCS, and with the same hull going to be produced for ther FFs, we will see this, as I say, for many years to come.
