WASHINGTON, the USA, (BulgarianMilitary.com) –Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer announced on 9th October 2018 that the next Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship will be named USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32), learned BulgarianMilitary.com

Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer said, “I am pleased to name the next Independence variant LCS after the city of Santa Barbara,” and added, “This city’s innovative workforce and longstanding support of our Navy and Marine Corps team, whether active duty, reserve force, civilian or Veterans, the support from this community strengthens our Navy and nation.”

The name of the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) is chosen in honour of Santa Barbara, California and is the third vessel, which will bear that name. It will be built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. Its length will be 128.32 m, and the beam length – 31,61 m. The speeds at which the USS Santa Barbara will be able to reach will be about 40 knots (74.08 km/h).

Delivery of 16 LCSs has been accepted by the Navy. The total number of the procured LCSs is 32 together with the newest contract modifications. Ten of the ships (LCS 15, 17, 19-26) are under construction.

The littoral combat ship (LCS) is a set of two classes of relatively small surface vessels developed by the United States Navy. The first two LCS variants are the Freedom class and the Independence class are. Both of them are slightly smaller than the U.S. Navy’s Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, but larger than Cyclone-class patrol ships. USS Independence (LCS-2) is the lead ship of the Independence-class of littoral combat ships.

Read more: The US Navy Received Littoral Combat Ships 11 (Sioux City) and 13 (Wichita)

The LCS is a modular, reconfigurable vessel, developed for surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures missions near shore. Each LCS features an interchangeable mission package, which provides the primary mission systems in one of these warfare areas.

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Source: U.S. SECNAV Public Affairs, Wikipedia