(NSI News Source Info) March 8, 2009: The third littoral combat ship will be named for the city of Fort Worth, Texas, the Navy secretary's office announced March 6. 
Two classes of Littoral Combat Ships are the first examples of the U.S. Navy's next-generation surface combatants: the Freedom Class and the Independence Class. Intended as a relatively small surface vessel for operations in the littoral zone (close to shore), the LCS designs are slightly smaller than the Navy's guided missile frigates, and have been compared to the corvette of international usage. However, the LCS designs add the capabilities of a small assault transport with a flight deck and hangar large enough to base two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, the capability to recover and launch small boats from a stern ramp, and enough cargo volume and payload to deliver a small assault force with armored vehicles to a roll-on/roll-off port facility. The standard armament for the LCS are Mk 110 57 mm guns, while modules containing Non-Line-of-Sight Launch Systems or Mark 54 MAKO Lightweight Torpedoes are available. It will also be able to launch autonomous air, surface, and underwater vehicles. Although the LCS designs offer less air defense and surface-to-surface capabilities than comparable destroyers, the LCS concept emphasizes speed, flexible mission module space and a shallow draft.
A new type of warship, the fast and agile LCS is intended to fight in shallow water with various warfare mission modules. The LCS family has two hull types, a semiplaning monohull built by Lockheed Martin and a trimaran being built by General Dynamics.
Cmdr. Cappy Surette, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon, confirmed that the Fort Worth will be built by Lockheed Martin.
The ships are named for American towns with patriotic names or histories. The first, Freedom, was commissioned Nov. 8 in Milwaukee, Wis. The second ship, Independence, is expected to be delivered to the Navy this year.
Two classes of Littoral Combat Ships are the first examples of the U.S. Navy's next-generation surface combatants: the Freedom Class and the Independence Class. Intended as a relatively small surface vessel for operations in the littoral zone (close to shore), the LCS designs are slightly smaller than the Navy's guided missile frigates, and have been compared to the corvette of international usage. However, the LCS designs add the capabilities of a small assault transport with a flight deck and hangar large enough to base two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, the capability to recover and launch small boats from a stern ramp, and enough cargo volume and payload to deliver a small assault force with armored vehicles to a roll-on/roll-off port facility. The standard armament for the LCS are Mk 110 57 mm guns, while modules containing Non-Line-of-Sight Launch Systems or Mark 54 MAKO Lightweight Torpedoes are available. It will also be able to launch autonomous air, surface, and underwater vehicles. Although the LCS designs offer less air defense and surface-to-surface capabilities than comparable destroyers, the LCS concept emphasizes speed, flexible mission module space and a shallow draft.
A new type of warship, the fast and agile LCS is intended to fight in shallow water with various warfare mission modules. The LCS family has two hull types, a semiplaning monohull built by Lockheed Martin and a trimaran being built by General Dynamics.
Cmdr. Cappy Surette, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon, confirmed that the Fort Worth will be built by Lockheed Martin.
The ships are named for American towns with patriotic names or histories. The first, Freedom, was commissioned Nov. 8 in Milwaukee, Wis. The second ship, Independence, is expected to be delivered to the Navy this year. 
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