Austal Team

Trimaran LCS Design

(click to enlarge) Exploit simplicity, numbers, the pace of technology development in electronics and robotics, and fast reconfiguration. That was the US Navy’s idea for the low-end backbone of its future surface combatant fleet. Inspired by successful experiments like Denmark’s Standard Flex ships, the US Navy’s $35+ billion “Littoral Combat Ship” program was intended to create a new generation of affordable surface combatants that could operate in dangerous shallow and near-shore environments, while remaining affordable and capable throughout their lifetimes. It hasn’t worked that way. In practice, the Navy hasn’t been able to reconcile what they wanted with the capabilities needed to perform primary naval missions, or with what could be delivered for the sums available. The LCS program has changed its fundamental acquisition plan 4 times since 2005, and canceled contracts with both competing teams during this period, without escaping any of its fundamental issues. Now, the program looks set to end early. This public-access FOCUS article offer a wealth of research material, alongside looks at the LCS program’s designs, industry teams procurement plans, military controversies, budgets and contracts.




LCS: Concept & Needs

LCS-I missions

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Ultimately, the US Navy is trying to replace 56 vessels: 30 FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigates, 14 MCM Avenger Class mine countermeasures vessels, and 12 MHC-51 Osprey Class coastal mine hunters.

The LCS requirement has been identified as part of a broader surface combatant force transformation strategy, which recognizes that many future threats are spawning in regions with shallow seas, where the ability to operate near-shore and even in rivers will be vital for mission success.

That requires the ability to counter growing “asymmetric” threats like coastal mines, quiet diesel submarines, global piracy, and terrorists on small fast attack boats. It also requires intelligence gathering and scouting, some ground combat support capabilities, and the ability to act as a local command node, sharing tactical information with other Navy aircraft, ships, submarines, and joint units.

At the same time, however, the US Navy needs ships that can act as low-end fillers in other traditional fleet roles, and operate in the presence of missile-armed enemy vessels and/or aerial threats.

Given the diversity of possible missions in the shallow-water and near-shore littoral zones, and the potential threats from forces on land, any ship designed for these tasks must be both versatile and stealthy. History also suggests that they need to be able to take a punch. Meanwhile, the reality of ships that are expected to remain in service for over 30 years gives rise to a need for electronic longevity. As the saga of the USA’s cost-effective but short-lived FFG-7 frigates proved, “future-proofing” and upgradeability for key systems, electronics, and weapons will be critical if these small surface combatants are to remain useful throughout their mechanical lives.

While a ship’s hull and design makes a number of its performance parameters difficult to change, the Americans believed they may have a solution that lets them upgrade sensors and key systems. Denmark’s Standard Flex 300 corvettes pioneered a revolutionary approach of swappable mission modules, based on ISO containers. In contrast to the traditional approach, which is to cram a wide-ranging set of bolted-in compromise equipment into fixed installations, “flex ships” can radically changes the ships’ capabilities, by swapping in a full breadth of equipment focused on a particular need.

Swappable modules also give the Navy new options over time. One option is technology-based, via spiral development that focuses on rapid insertions of new equipment. This creates a long series of slight improvements in the mission modules, and hence the ship’s capabilities. Over time, the cumulative effect can be very significant. The 2nd benefit is cost-related, since upgrades require far less work and cost to install when mission technologies evolve. The 3rd benefit is risk-related. The ability to do low-cost, spiral upgrades encourages frequent “refreshes” that remain within the existing state of the art, rather than periodic upgrade programs that must stretch what’s possible, in order to handle expected developments over the next 25 years.

LCS: Designs & Teams

There are currently 2 different LCS designs being produced and procured as part of the competition.

LCS-1 Freedom Class Monohull

Team Lockheed Martin’s LCS-1 Freedom Class offers a proven high-speed semi-planing monohull, based on Fincantieri designs that have set trans-Atlantic speed records. The design will use the firm’s COMBATSS-21 combat system as the fighting electronic heart of the ship, has shock-hardened the engine systems, and uses a combination of a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. USS Freedom has faced persistent reports of weight and stability issues, however, which required additional bolt-on buoyancy fittings at its stern.

Team Lockheed LCS

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The ships have a smaller flight deck than the Independence Class at 5,200 square feet, but a larger 4,680 square foot helicopter hangar. The Freedom Class’ LCS mission bay is the biggest difference – it’s under half the size, at 6,500 square feet. On the other hand, its RAM missile launcher is the 21-round Mk.49, and if the ships need weapon upgrades, export designs stemming from the Freedom Class mount full strike-length Mk.41 vertical launch cells. These can handle any vertically-launched system in the fleet, including SM-3 anti-ballistic missile interceptors, and Tomahawk long-range precision attack missiles.

Lockheed’s core team includes various Lockheed divisions, plus naval architects Gibbs & Cox of Arlington, VA; shipbuilder Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, LA; and shipbuilder Marinette Marine of Marinette, WI. Niche providers and related partnerships include:

Angle Incorporated



Argon ST (threat detection systems)



Blohm + Voss



Data Links Solutions



DRS Technologies



EADS (TRS-3D radar)



Fairbanks Morse (Colt-Pielstick PA6B-STC diesel engines)



Fincantieri (diesel generators)



Izar (now Navantia)



L-3 Communications



MAAG Gear AG



MacTaggart Scott



Raytheon



Rolls Royce (MT30 gas turbines, shaftlines, bearings, software, Kamewa waterjets)



Sensytech



Sperry



Terma



Unidynamics



United Defense, now BAE Systems

LCS-2 Independence Class Trimaran

USS Independence

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The LCS-2 Independence Class offers a futuristic but practical high-speed trimaran, based on Austal designs and experience with vessels like the US Marines’ Westpac Express high-speed transport, and the Army and Navy’s TSV/HSV ships. It offers an especially large flight deck (7,300 square feet) and internal mission volume (15,200 square feet mission bay) for its size, with a 3,500 square foot helicopter hangar. The hull is aluminum, but the trimaran design offers additional stability options, and may help the ship survive side hits.

The Independence Class will carry a General Dynamics designed combat system, and standard LCS weapon fittings. The RAM defensive missile launcher sacrifices some size, but the 11-round SeaRAM is a self-contained unit with its own radar. If the LCS should require a full suite of naval weapons in future, export designs based on the this class tout “tactical-length” vertical launch cells that are limited to shorter weapons like RIM-162 ESSM and SM-2 air defense missiles, and VL-ASROC anti-submarine missiles.

Not anymore…

The initial teaming arrangement was led by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipbuilder as prime integrator, with Austal of Mobile, AL (a subsidiary of Austal Ships of Australia) as the main design partner and ship-building site. That alliance was broken by the requirements of the 2010 RFP, which demanded a 2nd builder for the designs that was unaffiliated with the first.

Austal is now the sole prime contractor for the LCS-2 Independence Class design. GD subsidiaries remain heavily involved, including General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products Division in Burlington, VT; General Dynamics Electric Boat Division in Groton, CT; General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in Fairfax, VA; and General Dynamics Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Other key participants include:

Boeing in Seattle, WA



BAE Systems in Rockville, MD



L3 Communications Marine Systems in Leesburg, VA



Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems in Baltimore, MD



Maritime Applied Physics Corporation in Baltimore, MD



GE (LM 2500 gas turbines)



MTU (8000 Series diesel engines)



Saab (AN/SPS-77v1 Sea Giraffe AMB radar)



Wartsila (water jets)

LCS = Standard Equipment + Mission Packages…

LCS Flight 0 Basics

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At 115 – 127 meters in length and 2,800 – 3,100 tons of displacement, the USA’s competing LCS ship designs are almost the size of Britain’s Type 23 frigates. They might well be classified as frigates, were it not for their shallow water design and employment. For whatever reason, high speed has also been identified as an important ship characteristic. As such, both the GD/Austal trimaran and Lockheed’s racing-derived monohull offer potential top speeds of 40-50 knots over short distances.

No matter which mission modules are loaded, the ship will carry a BAE Systems Mk.110 57mm naval gun with a firing rate of up to 220 rounds/minute, and Mk.295 ammunition that works against aerial, surface or ground threats. The ship will also carry .50 caliber (12.7mm) machine guns, plus defensive systems including automated chaff/flare dispensers and a launcher for Raytheon’s RIM-116 RAM Rolling Airframe Missile. RAM is designed to handle anti-ship missiles, aircraft, UAVs, helicopters, and even small boats, but its range of just 9 km/ 5 nm will only protect its own ship. Unlike larger missiles such as the RIM-162 ESSM, RAM systems cannot perform fleet defense.

LCS ships will also rely on their onboard MH-60 helicopters and/or MQ-8B Fire Scout helicopter UAVs, plus other robotic vehicles including a variety of Unmanned Underwater Vessels (UUV) and Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV). The terms have changed over time, but the US Navy has downgraded the term “mission modules” to mean individual components plus their support equipment. Integrated packages of weapons, sensors, robotic vehicles, and manned platforms that can be switched in and out depending on the ship’s mission are now called “mission packages.” They include all task-related mission modules, onboard aircraft, and their corresponding crew detachments.

The ships’ first and most important mission package is not officially listed. It consists of a small but very cross-trained crew. LCSs were intended to operate with a core crew of 40 (now 50) sailors, plus a mission module detachment of 15 and an aviation detachment of 25. Each ship has a Blue crew and a Gold crew, which will shift to 3 crews over time that can deploy in 4-month rotations.

There are concerns that this is a design weakness, leaving the LCS crew at the edge of its capabilities to just run the ship, with insufficient on-board maintenance capabilities, and too little left over for contingencies such as boarding and search, damage control, illnesses, etc. USS Freedom’s addition of 10 more bunks before her 1st Asian deployment indicates that the US Navy may be about to concede this point, but even with 50, performance wasn’t great.

Beyond the human element, the LCS program will initially draw upon packages for Mine Warfare (MCM: 24 planned), Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW: 16 planned) and Surface Warfare (SUW: 24 planned). The LCS Mission Modules Program Office (PMS 420) packages a variety of technologies to these ends, many of which are produced by other program offices and delivered as elements of a particular mission module. Costs per module have gone down over time, but that hasn’t been from any genius in planning and fielding. Rather, it results from a high program failure rate of individual components, and their replacement in the program by less expensive items:

The following DID articles offer in-depth coverage of current and proposed Mission Packages:

LCS: Controversies & Cautions

Into battle

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The cost and size of LCS ships are now comparable to other countries’ high-end naval frigates. As the US Navy’s primary low-end vessels in the future fleet, they will be expected to perform many of the same roles. The cargo hold’s size has created some challenges in fitting all of the required equipment into the mission modules, without compromising high-end performance at the modules’ particular tasks. Even so, LCS ships can be expected to perform the mine countermeasures role very well, and the frigates’ traditional anti-submarine role reasonably well, thanks to their helicopters, array of robots, and rapidly upgradeable systems.

Other traditional roles for frigate-sized vessels are more controversial. The biggest controversy surrounds the ships’ one severe inflexibility: their weapons fit.

Present LCS designs don’t even carry torpedo tubes, or vertical-launch systems (VLS) that could accommodate present and future attack and/or defensive missiles. Even with the Surface Warfare module installed, LCS ships will carry a very light armament set for a major naval vessel: a 57-mm Mk 110 naval gun system; RIM-116 SeaRAM short range defensive missiles; 30mm cannons that would replace very short range Griffin missile launchers if installed; 12.7mm machine guns; plus any missiles or 70mm rockets carried by its accompanying helicopters (up to 2 H-60 slots or up to 4 MQ-8B Fire Scout UAV slots).

That armament is closer to a support vessel than a naval surface combatant, and larger high-speed support designs like the JHSV would offer far more mission module space for reconfigurable specialty support ships. Naval analyst Raymond Pritchett has pithily described the current compromise as:

“…3000 ton speedboat chasers with the endurance of a Swedish corvette, the weapon payload of a German logistics ship, and the cargo hold of a small North Korean arms smuggler.”

LCS-I components

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The LCS weapons array also compares unfavorably with comparable-sized frigates that can perform the full array of anti-submarine, fleet air defense, and naval combat roles. The new Franco-Italian FREMM Class, or even Britain’s much older Type 23/Duke Class, outclass it considerably as multi-role ships. So do smaller corvettes like Israel’s US-built, $260 million Sa’ar 5 Eilat Class, and Sweden’s ultra-stealthy Visby Class. Even the tiny Danish Flyvefisken Class, whose swappable “flex ship” modules helped pave the way for the LCS idea, has a Mk 48 vertical launch system that can handle medium-range air defense missiles, and mounts launchers for Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

LCS’ lack of weaponry may not matter against small boats like the “Boghammers,” fielded by the Iranians during their late-1980s guerrilla warfare at sea against the US Navy in the Persian Gulf. Unfortunately, many nations field 90’+ Fast Attack Craft equipped with anti-ship missiles. Despite being 1/3 the LCS’ length and 1/5 of its displacement or less, their employment would create a threat that could attack an LCS from beyond its range of reasonable retaliation, with weapons that the LCS’ may not be able to stop or survive.

It’s telling that brochures for the International LCS versions offered by each team feature a major radar capability boost via the small SPY-1F AEGIS system or other radar upgrade, and are armed with torpedo tubes, anti-ship missiles and vertical-launch system (VLS) cells.

USS Stark, 1987

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Meanwhile, survivability has become an issue on 3 fronts. One is the slim margins created by a very small crew, leaving little margin for tasks like damage control if automated systems are damaged or fail. The other issues involve questions of shock/survivability testing, and of aluminum structures. The original concept for LCS was a ship whose damage resistance could save the crew, but not the ship, in the event if a significant strike. That was upgraded slightly to potentially saving the crew and the ship, but not continuing to fight while doing so. As the Exocet missile strikes on the HMS Sheffield (sank) and USS Stark (survived, barely) proved, even steel warships designed to keep fighting after a strike may find it challenging to meet their design specifications. Navy revelations that the LCS ships would not meet even Level I standards, let alone the OPNAVINST 9070.1 Level II standard of the frigates they’ll replace, has caused some consternation.

So, too, has the use of aluminum in ships exposed to hostile fire. The LCS-1 Freedom Class uses an aluminum superstructure, while the LCS-2 Independence Class is primarily an aluminum design. While both ships have had to certify to the same fire-proofing standards asked of other ships, aluminum conducts heat very well, and melts or deforms easily. If the ancillary fire-fighting systems, resistant coatings, etc. fail, or cannot handle a given situation at sea, structural integrity problems and secondary fires could become fatal concerns very quickly.

The emerging scenario in the USA is a cost for the base ships that continues to hover around $400-500 million each, plus weapons, electronics, and mission modules that bring the price per fully-equipped ship to $450-600 million, even under the proposed new fixed-price contract. That’s no longer a cheap $220 million corvette class price tag. Instead, it’s a price tag that places the USA’s LCS at the mid-to-upper end of the international market for full multi-role frigate designs. Even as overall American procurement trends make LCS ships the most common form of US naval power.

In that environment, unfavorable comparisons are inevitable. A versatile surveillance and special forces insertion ship whose flexibility doesn’t extend to the light armament that’s its weakest point, and isn’t able to deal with anything beyond token naval or air opposition, won’t meet expectations. Worse, it could cause the collapse of the Navy’s envisaged “high-low” force structure if the DDG-1000 destroyers and CG (X) cruisers are priced out of the water, and built in small numbers.

That domino has already fallen, as DDG-1000/ DD (X), production has been capped at just 3 ships, and CG (X) was canceled entirely in the FY 2011 budget. As Vice-Admiral Mustin (ret.) and Vice-Admiral Katz (ret.) put it in a 2003 USNI Proceedings article:

“Because the Navy has invested heavily in land-attack capabilities such as the Advanced Gun System and land-attack missiles in DD (X), there is no requirement for [the Littoral Combat Ship] to have this capability. Similarly, LCS does not require an antiair capability beyond self-defense because DD (X) and CG (X) will provide area air defense. Thus, if either DD (X) or CG (X) does not occur in the numbers required and on time, the Navy will face two options: leave LCS as is, and accept the risk inherent in employment of this ship in a threat environment beyond what it can handle (which is what it did with the FFG-7); or “grow” LCS to give it the necessary capabilities that originally were intended to reside off board in DD (X) and CG (X). Neither option is acceptable.”

Especially if the low end has grown to a cost level that makes it equivalent to other countries’ major surface combatants, while falling short on key capabilities that will be required in the absence of higher-end ships.

The LCS Program

In 2009, the CBO estimated LCS shipbuilding costs at around $30.2 billion, with a fleet average of 1.2 mission modules per ship (TL. 66) bought separately at about $100 million per module. As of 2012, the split had changed a bit, but the overall total was around $39 billion. This contrasts with the original hope of $22 billion total costs for 55 ships and 165 mission modules, at $400 million per ship ($220M construction + (3 x $60M) mission module options).

The US Navy’s current shipbuilding plan envisions building 32 littoral combat ships and 64 mission modules until about 2040. Technically, only 45 LCS ships would count toward Navy fleet totals. Because these ships are assumed to have a service life of 25 years, the 10 or fewer ships bought from 2036 – 2040 would be replacements for the original ships of class. Even so, that number of LCS ships is likely to make up 20% of the Navy or more. The US Navy has already sagged to under 300 ships, and unless major changes in course lie ahead for its budget or its chosen designs, the total number of ships will sink farther.

Acquisition Structure

In July 2011, the Navy created PEO LCS to oversee the program, headed by Rear Adm. James A. Murdoch. Ship construction supervision was removed from PEO Ships, while mission module supervision was removed from PEO Littoral and Mine Warfare (PEO LMW), which was dissolved. It wasn’t the first big change in the program – and may not be the last.

It’s normal for programs to change elements like numbers ordered, but not to change the entire buy strategy. The Littoral Combat Ship program has shifted its entire buy strategy several times during its short lifetime – a sorry sequence of orders, budgets not spent, contract cancellations, etc. documented in Appendix A.

The last buy strategy has lasted long enough for a multi-ship contract. After buying 4 ships and taking bids under their 2009 revised strategy, the US Navy went to Congress and asked for permission to accept both 10-ship bids, buying 20 ships for a total advertised price that was about the same as the estimates for the 15 ships they had wanted. The GAO and CBO both have doubts about those estimates, in part because the Navy is still changing the designs; but the contracts were issued at the end of December 2010. Each contractor would get 1 initial ship order, then 9 more options, with the ship purchases spread across FY 2010-2011 (1 per year for each contractor); then FY 2012-2015 inclusive (2 per year for each contractor). Cost overruns will be shared 50/50 between the government and contractor, up to a set cost cap.

Budgets

By the end of FY 2013, the program is expected to be at about a quarter of total procurement, in units ordered and dollars spent.

LCS: Ship Roster

Team Lockheed, Freedom Class

LCS 1, USS Freedom. Commissioned Nov 8/08.



LCS 3, USS Fort Worth. Commissioned Sept 22/12.



LCS 5, Milwaukee



LCS 7, Detroit



LCS 9, Little Rock



LCS 11, Sioux City



LCS 13, Wichita



LCS 15, Billings

Team Austal, Independence Class

LCS 2, USS Independence. Commissioned Jan 16/10.



LCS 4, USS Coronado. Commissioned April 5/14.



LCS 6, Jackson



LCS 8, Montgomery



LCS 10, Gabrielle Giffords



LCS 12, Omaha



LCS 14, Machester



LCS 16, Tulsa

LCS: Export Potential

MMCS

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Once one steps beyond small patrol craft, growing capabilities have made frigate-sized vessels the most common naval export around the globe. With many nations confronting challenges in the world’s littorals, which include the globe’s most important shipping choke points, one would expect some interest in the Littoral Combat Ship beyond the USA. A Dec 11/06 Austal release claimed 26 potential buyers worldwide for the ship and its companion equipment, “with two near-term contenders and four others that have expressed active interest.”

There are 2 interesting aspects to LCS export bids. One is their equipment, which is radically different from the US Navy’s set.

Lockheed Martin’s international Multi-Mission Combat Ship (MMCS) version, which attracted some interest from Israel before cost issues intervened, has a variety of configurations from OPV/corvette to large frigate size. Upgraded radars range from CEAFAR active-array radars on smaller ships, to the option of Lockheed’s SPY-1F for the largest variant. Fixed weapons include torpedo tubes and 8 Harpoon missiles, though some exhibit models have used 12 Kongsberg NSMs. Concept diagrams also show between 4-48 VLS cells, some of which are full strike-length size.

General Dynamics’ trimaran adds an upgraded radar (SPY-1F in diagrams), torpedo tubes, and 16 tactical-length vertical launch (VLS) cells.Among other payloads, those cells could hold VL-ASROC anti-submarine missiles to extend anti-submarine reach, or quad-packed RIM-162 ESSM anti-air missiles for area air defense. Exhibited models have also displayed up to 16 NSM anti-ship missiles.

Turkish MEKO 200

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The other aspect worth noting is the Littoral Combat Ship’s failure to close any export sales over 7+ years. At present, both LCS designs have received preliminary export inquiries, but Israel and Thailand are the only cases where it has gone farther than that.

Israel did step up in July 2008, and confirmed its request for an LCS-I based on Team Lockheed’s design. Israel’s variant was very different from LCS 1 Freedom, however; it featured a fixed set of weaponry rather than full mission module spaces, and its proposed SPY-1 AEGIS or MF-STAR radar and weapons array and made it far more capable in critical roles like air defense and ship to ship warfare. As noted above, similar changes have been a common theme among international LCS offerings, but an estimated ship cost of over $700 million eventually pushed Israel to rethink its plans. That country is now pursuing cheaper options based on Blohm + Voss’ MEKO family of corvettes and frigates, or South Korean designs. The Freedom Class also lost the Thai competition.

Saudi Arabia has reportedly expressed interest in a fixed armament version of the General Dynamics/Austal design. That interest was reiterated in 2010, but they’re also evaluating Lockheed Martin’s design for the Arabian/Persian Gulf fleet. In 2011, it emerged that the Saudis might skip an LCS buy altogether, in exchange for a much more heavily-armed, versatile, and expensive option: the USA’s DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class multi-role destroyers, with ballistic missile defense capability.

Meanwhile, designs like the German MEKO family, the multi-role Franco-Italian FREMM, the modular-construction Dutch Sigma class, and even refurbished 1980s-era NATO frigates continue to find buyers around the world.

LCS: Ship Contracts & Key Events

This section covers the core LCS program. Mission Packages are discussed in-depth in “It’s All in the Package: the Littoral Combat Ship’s Mission Modules“; and the complex mine countermeasures package gets its own in-depth treatment in “LCS & MH-60S Mine Counter-Measures Continue Development“.

Unless otherwise noted, all contracts are issued by the USA’s Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC.

FY 2016 – 2020

LCS 4 & JHSV

September 17/20: SSMM Northrop Grumman Systems won an $8.1 million Northrop Grumman Systems won an $8.1 million modification to exercise an option for the production of Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM). The modification authorizes the production of one SSMM unit. The SSMM is a Longbow Hellfire missile that will be added to the surface warfare mission module aboard the LCS. The littoral combat ship (LCS) is a family of surface ships for the US Navy. The LCS is a fast, highly maneuverable, networked surface combat ship, which is a specialized variant of the family of US future surface combat ships known as DD(X). Work will take place in Huntsville, Alabama, Bethpage, New York and Hollywood, Maryland. Expected completion date is in June 2022.

June 26/20: Exercises The USS Gabrielle Giffords joined two ships of the Japan Self-Defense Force for The USS Gabrielle Giffords joined two ships of the Japan Self-Defense Force for bilateral exercises in the South China Sea. The Kashima class training vessel JS Kashima and the Shimayuki Class training vessel JS Shimayuki of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force joined the US Navy’s Independence Class littoral combat ship on Tuesday. The purpose of the exercise, the Navy said, was to “practice and enhance bilateral interoperability between the two navies and to emphasize the importance of communications and coordination.”

June 18/20: Design Services Austal USA won a $43.4 million Austal USA won a $43.4 million contract modification to exercise options for Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) class design services and Integrated Data and Product Model Environment (IDPME) support. Austal USA will provide class design services, including but not limited to, technical analyses, non-recurring engineering, configuration management, software maintenance, production assessments, diminishing manufacturing sources analysis, root cause analysis and sea frame reliability analysis. Austal USA will also maintain an IDPME that provides the Navy access to enterprise data management, visualization, program management applications, network management and control. The LCS is a family of surface ships for the US Navy. The LCS is a fast, highly maneuverable, networked surface combat ship, which is a specialized variant of the family of US future surface combat ships known as DD(X). Work will take place in Mobile, Alabama and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Estimated completion will be by June 2021.

June 8/20: LCS-24 Austal won a $7.7 million Austal won a $7.7 million contract for the accomplishment of post shakedown availability (PSA) for the littoral combat ship (LCS) US Ship Oakland (LCS-24). Work includes correcting government-responsible trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of PSA and incorporating the approved engineering changes that were not incorporated during the construction period (which are not otherwise the building yard’s responsibility under the ship construction contract). The LCS is a set of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for operations near shore by the US Navy. LCS-24 is the 12th Independence-variant littoral combat ship. Last month, the ship successfully completed acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico. Work will take place in San Diego, California. Estimated completion date will be by December 2021.

May 22/20: LCS 26 Austal USA won an $8.2 million Austal USA won an $8.2 million contract modification for Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) industrial post-delivery support for LCS 26. Austal USA will provide shipboard support to implement approved engineering change proposals, approved government-responsible deficiencies identified during test and trials, crew-related activities and preventative maintenance. Austal will also provide program management support and logistics support for technical documentation affected by the work performed. LCS 26 will be an Independence Class LCS. Work will take place in Mobile, Alabama and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Estimated completion will be by March 2021.

May 12/20: UISS AAI Corp. won a $20.7 million AAI Corp. won a $20.7 million modification for engineering and technical services for the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) and Unmanned Surface Vehicle program. The deal modifies a contract originally awarded in September 2014 for work on the UISS, which consists of a mine countermeasure unmanned surface vessel and is designed to operate as part of the littoral combat ship (LCS) mine countermeasure (MCM) package. Unmanned surface vehicles, or Naval drones, are boats that operate on the surface of the water without a crew. According to the Pentagon, the UISS program is intended to satisfy the Navy’s need for a rapid, wide-area coverage mine clearance capability which are required to neutralize magnetic/acoustic influence mines, while also providing a high-area coverage rate in a small, lightweight package with minimal impact on the host platform. Work will take place in Maryland and Louisiana. Estimated completion will be by September 2021.

April 30/20: LCS-19 PSA Lockheed Martin won a $13.1 million to Lockheed Martin won a $13.1 million to provide engineering and management services for Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)-19 Post Shakedown Availability (PSA). LCS-19 is a Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship. The Freedom Class are small and fast vessels, intended to operate in littoral zones, for example close to the shore. These are designed to combat with small craft, rather than equal warships. These ships are designed to have a shallow draft and operate at high speed. Work will take place in New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, Washington DC. Work is scheduled to be finished by September 2021.

April 21/20: Planning Yard Services Huntington Ingalls Industries won a $108 million Huntington Ingalls Industries won a $108 million contract modification to exercise options for the accomplishment of the planning yard services for the littoral combat in-service ships. The LCS is a high speed, agile, shallow draft, mission-focused surface combatant of the US Navy designed for operations in the littoral environment, yet fully capable of open ocean operations. It is a modular, reconfigurable ship designed to meet validated fleet requirements for anti-surface warfare (ASuW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and mine countermeasures (MCM) missions. The requirements under this contract include, but are not limited to ship installation drawings development; ship change document updates; operating cycle integration program management; work integration package engineering; type commander response; ship configuration logistics support information system support; configuration data management; research engineering and modeling; provisioned items order; cost and feasibility studies; integrated planning yard material support; provisioning technical documentation; naval ships engineering drawing repository system input and data management; interface and coordination with regional maintenance centers and fleet entities; design alteration and modification development; review and tracing; managing related class ship selected record documents; and hull, mechanical and electrical engineering standardization efforts.Work will take place in Virginia, Mississippi,California and Florida. Estimated completion will be by April 2021.

March 23/20: Sustainment Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems won a $98.7 million Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems won a $98.7 million contract for sustainment of the Littoral Combat Ship Component Based Total Ship System – 21st Century -(LCS COMBATSS-21); and associated combat system elements. The work includes development, integration, test and delivery of future combat system baseline upgrades for in-service ships, supporting ship integration, installation and checkout, developmental test/operational test, developing training and logistics products, providing field technical support for combat systems, providing hardware engineering, equipment procurement and providing life-cycle supportability engineering and fleet support for fielded baselines. The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin (for the odd-numbered hulls, e.g. LCS 1). It is a steel monohull design constructed by Lockheed Martin in the Fincantieri Marinette Marine Corporation’s shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin. Work will take place in Virginia and Florida as well as various other locations.

March 17/20: Mission Modules Program Northrop Grumman won a $49.1 million Northrop Grumman won a $49.1 million contract modification for engineering services to support the Littoral Combat Ship Mission Modules Program. The deal modifies a contract awarded in March 2017. It funds engineering services for gun mission modules, including support for outfitting and installation, interim deport level maintenance, engineering support and sustainment as well as incidental costs related to engineering services for mission modules. LCS mission modules will have the capability to be changed, tested and available to be deployed within 24 hours. Work will take place in New York, Florida, California,Massachusetts, Florida and Washington DC. Estimated completion will be by March 2021.

February 17/20: PSA BAE Systems Jacksonville Ship Repair won a $24.6 million BAE Systems Jacksonville Ship Repair won a $24.6 million contract for the accomplishment of post-shakedown-availability (PSA) for one Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) , with options for the accomplishment of PSAs for up to seven additional Freedom-variant LCSs. A post-shakedown availability takes place in a period of about 16 weeks between the transfer of a ship to the Navy and the shipbuilding conversion date. Freedom Class littoral combat ships, which are built by Lockheed Martin, carry a variety of light weapon systems as well as short-range missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes. BAE’s post-shakedown availability will include correction of trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of the availability and incorporation incorporation of approved engineering changes not addressed under the building yard’s construction contract. Work will be performed in Mayport, Florida, with an expected completion date of March 2021.

November 28/19: IPDA For LCS 24 The Naval Sea Systems Command The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Austal USA a modification for Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) industrial post-delivery availability (IPDA) support for LCS 24. This contract modification is for IPDA efforts for LCS 24. Austal USA will provide shipboard support to implement approved engineering change proposals, approved government-responsible deficiencies identified during test and trials, and crew-related activities and preventative maintenance. Austal will also provide program management support and logistics support for technical documentation affected by the work performed. LCS 24 or USS Oakland is the 12th Independence-variant LCS and the third US Navy ship to be named in honor of Oakland. The ship will be homeported in San Diego naval base. The LCS is designed to operate in near-shore environments and open-ocean. It has the capability to tackle modern coastal threats such as submarines, mines, and swarming small craft. Work will take place in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and estimated completion will be by October, 2020.

November 21/19: USS Billings BAE Systems was tapped with an $11.2 million BAE Systems was tapped with an $11.2 million contract modification to exercise options for the USS Billings (LCS 15) post-shakedown availability. Post-shakedown availabilities (PSA) are accomplished within a period of approximately 10-16 weeks between the time of ship custody transfer to the Navy and the shipbuilding and conversion funding obligation work limiting date. The PSA encompasses all of the manpower, support services, material, non-standard equipment and associated technical data and documentation required to prepare for and accomplish the PSA. Work will include correction of government-responsible trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of PSA and incorporation of approved engineering changes that were not incorporated during the construction period which are not otherwise the building yard’s responsibility under the ship construction contract. The USS Billings is a Littoral Combat Ship. It is designed to operate close to shore in shallow water. The Navy commissioned the ship in August this year. Work under the modification will take place in Jacksonville, California and estimated completion will be by January 2021.

November 4/19: Sustainment General Dynamics Mission Systems, won a $90.7 million General Dynamics Mission Systems, won a $90.7 million contract for sustainment of the Littoral Combat Ship Integrated Combat Management System and associated combat system elements. Work includes development, integration, test and delivery of future combat system baseline upgrades for in-service ships, supporting ship integration, installation and checkout, developmental test/operational test, developing training and logistics products, support for field baselines. General Dynamics Mission Systems will develop, integrate, test and deliver baseline modifications for the LCS ICMS and support the integration of upgrades into in-service vessels. Naval Sea Systems Command will obligate $1M at the time of award from the Navy’s fiscal 2018 other procurement funds. Work will take place in Massachusetts, California and Alabama. Estimated completion will be in October 2024.

October 7/19: Class Services The US Navy The US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $75.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to exercise options for the accomplishment of class services for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. The option exercise is for class services for the LCS program. The company will provide expert design, planning and material support services for LCS-class ship construction. Lockheed Martin is in full-rate production and has delivered eight Freedom-variant ships to the US Navy. There are eight ships in various stages of production and test. This year, Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine will begin construction on two ships, deliver two ships, complete sea trials for two ships and see three ships commissioned. The company will perform work in Virginia, New Jersey, Washington DC, Wisconsin, and estimated completion will be in October 2020.

September 16/19: P426 LCS Logistics Facility Construction Walsh Federal LLC won a $49.8 million Walsh Federal LLC won a $49.8 million contract for the construction of P426 Littoral Combat Ship Logistics Facility at Naval Station Mayport. Work under the deal will provide for construction of a new four story, Phase II building, and renovations to the existing Phase I building. The two buildings will house the ashore component of administrative functions for deployed and in-port LCSs, as well as a portion of the training component. According to the DoD, the project also includes improvements to Bailey Avenue that will connect P426 to a new parking deck to be designed and constructed under a separate contract. The Littoral Combat Ship is a set of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for operations near shore by the USN. Work will take place in Jacksonville, Florida, and is expected to be finished by August 2021.

September 11/19: USS Gabrielle Giffords Deployed To Indo-Pacific A US Navy Littoral Combat Ship, carrying the new Naval Strike Missile capable of sinking a ship, A US Navy Littoral Combat Ship, carrying the new Naval Strike Missile capable of sinking a ship, deployed to the Pacific Ocean last week. The USS Gabrielle Giffords left San Diego on Tuesday. The vessel is relatively small and built for shallow-water maneuverability. The USS Gabrielle is carrying missiles noted for precision, quick enemy detection and a range of over 100 nautical miles. Giffords is the second LCS to deploy this year. The LCS Montgomery also deployed from San Diego in June after a 19-month lapse in LCS deployments as the Navy reworked the way it mans and trains crews for the ships. Defense News reports that a Navy official speaking on condition of anonymity said the USS Gabrielle was deploying to the Indo-Pacific theater. The official did not elaborate on the ship’s schedule.

August 14/19: USS Tulsa PSA Austal USA won a cost-plus fixed-fee Austal USA won a cost-plus fixed-fee task order in support of the post shakedown availability (PSA) of the Littoral Combat Ship USS Tulsa or LCS 16. The deal provides for accomplishment of advance planning, material procurement and accomplishment of work. It includes all of the manpower, support services, material, non-standard equipment and associated technical data and documentation required to prepare for and accomplish the PSA. Work will also include correction of government responsible trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of PSA and incorporation of approved engineering changes that were not incorporated during the construction period which are not otherwise the building yard’s responsibility under the ship construction contract. The USS Tulsa is part of the Independence Class Littoral Combat Ships. The ship was commissioned in February. The Tulsa is assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 1. The PSA is an industrial activity availability assigned to correct deficiencies found during the shakedown cruise or to accomplish other authorized improvements. Austal will perform work in Seattle, Washington and is expecting to finish work by April next year.

August 5/19: USS Billings Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin won a $18.8 million cost-plus award-fee order to provide engineering as well as management services for LCS-15 post shakedown availability, the Department of Defense announced on Thursday. The LCS-15 or USS Billings is one of the Navy’s newest warships. The vessel has a helicopter pad, a ramp for small boats and can be used by small assault forces. Post Shakedown Availability is an industrial activity availability assigned to correct deficiencies found during the shakedown cruise or to accomplish other authorized improvements. Lockheed Martin will provide 62,462 man-hours level of effort and work specification, pre-fabrication and material. Estimated completion date is in January 2021. On Saturday Lockheed also announced that the Navy commissioned LCS-15. This places the USS Billings into active service. July 3/19: Montgomery Deployed The USS Montgomery or LCS-8 arrived in the Philippines last Saturday as part of her The USS Montgomery or LCS-8 arrived in the Philippines last Saturday as part of her deployment to the Pacific. The Navy has resumed overseas deployments of the Littoral Combat Ships after an 18-month long hiatus. Repeated technical problems on both classes, the Freedom and the Independence Class, led the Navy to stand down all LCS crews in August 2016 – the first-ever stand down for a full class of vessels at once. All LCS personnel with a role in engineering were retrained, and the first four ships procured – two from each class, worth a combined $1.6 billion – were permanently restricted to testing duty. The stand down was soon lifted, but it has been more than a year and a half since an LCS deployed. The visit to Davao was the first indicator of the resumption of the LCS deployments. The USS Montgomery is a Independence Class Ship. June 28/19: Billings Damaged On its way to its new homeport in Florida, the future Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship USS Billings On its way to its new homeport in Florida, the future Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship USS Billings suffered damage after hitting another vessel in Montreal, Canada on June 24. The ship was awaiting its formal commissioning and the hope is that this incident will not delay its entry into service. The Billings struck the geared bulker Rosaire Desgagnes after it lost control for still unknown reasons. There were no reported injuries to personnel on either ship. There is no word yet about potential damage to the Rosaire Desgagnes. Construction of the future Billings began in 2014 and she was launched in 2017. The Navy officially took delivery of the Billings back in February. Lockheed Martin is the contractor. The ship left the shipyard for Mayport earlier in June. After delivery, new Freedom Class LCSs must sail through the Great Lakes and up the St. Lawrence Seaway in order to get out into the Atlantic Ocean and then make their way to their future homeports. June 24/19: Design Services The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Austal a modification for Littoral Combat Ship Class design services. The deal also includes integrated data and product model environment (IDPME) support. The IPDME will enable the Navy to access enterprise data management, visualization, program management applications, and network management and control. According to the The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Austal a modification for Littoral Combat Ship Class design services. The deal also includes integrated data and product model environment (IDPME) support. The IPDME will enable the Navy to access enterprise data management, visualization, program management applications, and network management and control. According to the Department of Defense , the company will provide efforts to support Littoral Combat Ship Class ships, including but not limited to technical analyses, non-recurring engineering, configuration management, software maintenance and development, production assessments, and diminishing manufacturing sources and seaframe reliability analysis. The Littoral Combat Ship is a set of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for operations near shore by the US Navy. Work under the modification will take place in Alabama and Massachusetts and is scheduled to be complete by June 2025. June 4/19: Post-Shakedown Lockheed Marin won a $9.3 million Lockheed Marin won a $9.3 million order for post shakedown availability on the Navy’s future USS Billings or LCS-15. The Billings is a Littoral Combat Ship currently undergoing sea trials. It is the 17th littoral combat ship delivered to the Navy and eighth of the Freedom variant to join the fleet. She will be commissioned on August 3 in Key West, Florida and will be tasked with near-shore multi-purpose missions that utilize her ability to deploy and recover landing craft and helicopter. A vessel is typically not committed to any timetables or tasks until it completes its shakedown cruise. While the ship is assigned to the industrial activity for this purpose, this period is known as an “availability”. The awarded deal provides advance planning, accomplishment and emergent availabilities. Work will take place within the US and is expected to be completed by January 2021. May 20/19: LCS-19 Lockheed Martin won a $12.7 million modification for post delivery support of the USS St. Louis. The USS St. Louis or LCS-19 is a Freedom Class littoral combat ship of the US Navy. In December, the Navy christened the ship in Marinette, the 10th Freedom-class Lockheed Martin won a $12.7 million modification for post delivery support of the USS St. Louis. The USS St. Louis or LCS-19 is a Freedom Class littoral combat ship of the US Navy. In December, the Navy christened the ship in Marinette, the 10th Freedom-class LCS built by Lockheed Martin’s Fincantieri Marinette Marine. In all, six Freedom Class ships are under construction and two are in the pre-production phase. The company will plan and implement deferred design changes that have been identified during the construction period. The corrections and upgrades are needed to support St. Louis Sailaway and follow-on post delivery test and trials period, the DoD announced on Thursday. Lockheed will perform work within the US and scheduled completion date is in December next year. April 11/19: USS Wichita PSA BAE Systems won an $8.1 million BAE Systems won an $8.1 million contract modification from the Navy for USS Wichita (LCS 13) post-shakedown availability (PSA). The Wichita is a Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship. The 378-foot highly maneuverable lightweight combatant features a steel monohull with a draft of only 13 feet allowing access to more ports and locations than other ship designs. LCS warships are designed to perform humanitarian aid and rescue, anti-submarine warfare, minesweeping, defending against piracy and drug trafficking, small assault transport and deterrence, while operating in shallow coastal waters known as the littorals. The Navy commissioned the ship in January this year. The PSA encompasses all of the manpower, support services, material, non-standard equipment and associated technical data and documentation required to prepare for and accomplish the PSA. The work to be performed will include correction of government-responsible trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of PSA and incorporation of approved engineering changes that were not incorporated during the construction period. BAE Systems will perform work in Jacksonville, Florida, and is expecting to be finished by March 2020. March 6/19: USS Charleston Commissioning The USS Charleston The USS Charleston entered the Navy’s fleet as the 16th Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) during a commissioning ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday. The LCS-18 is an Independent-Class Littoral Combat Ship built by Austal. The ship is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform that can operate in near-shore environments, as well as open-ocean. The Charleston is the ninth Independence-variant littoral combat ship , which consists of even-numbered hulls. It is able to defeat asymmetric anti-access threats, such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The USS Charleston was christened in August 2017 and delivered to the US Navy last year following the completion of acceptance trials. The LCS-18 is scheduled to be homeported in San Diego, California. The Navy still has one LCS contract to award. March 1/19: Maintenance The Navy The Navy tapped General Dynamics Mission Systems with a $34.7 million contract modification to help maintain an Austal-built Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Under the two year order General Dynamics will support maintenance of command, control, communications, computers, combat and intelligence systems of the Austal Independence variant LCS. The company will provide resource management, program planning, installation, modernization, training, cost and schedule control and software development services for the LCS . Austal’s Independence variant Ship is a high-speed, agile, multi-mission combatant that delivers superior seakeeping and performance. It is an open ocean capable vessel, but is designed to defeat growing littoral threats and provide access and dominance in the coastal water battlespace. General Dynamics was the prime contractor for LCS 2 (USS Independence) and LCS 4 (USS Coronado). However, Austal has been the Prime contractor for all Independence variant from LCS 6 onward. For the LCS program, Austal teamed up with General Dynamics Mission Systems. As the ship systems integrator, General Dynamics is responsible for the design, integration and testing of the ship’s electronic systems including the combat system, networks, and seaframe control. Work under the modification will take place in Massachusetts as well as various shipyards and is scheduled to be completed by February 2021. February 11/19: LCS Planning Yard Services The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair awarded General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works with a $15.6 million contract modification for LCS Planning Yard Services. The work is for the USS Jackson and future Independence-variant littoral combat ships. Planning yard services include design, material kitting, logistics, planning and execution. The work is specifically for waterjet assembly battle spares for the littoral class ships. The shipyard uses the waterjet cutting machine to fabricate new parts or replace worn parts while the ships are being maintained. The USS Jackson is the third Independence-class littoral combat ship to be built and the second Independence-class ship to carry standard 7 meters long rigid-hulled inflatable boats and improvements in corrosion protection and propulsion over the original Independence design. Work under the modification will take place in Virginia and Maine and is scheduled to be completed by March 2021.

January 28/19: Austal awarded for USS Cincinnati Work The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair Gulf Coast The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair Gulf Coast awarded Austal USA LLC a $16.3 million contract to support prefabrication efforts, material procurement, and execution of work items for littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati extended industrial post-delivery availability (EIPDA). Austal is a global defense prime contractor and designer as well as manufacturer of defense and commercial ships. The company is the fifth largest shipbuilder in the USA. The USS Cincinnati, also dubbed LCS_20 is an Independence-Class littoral combat ship that is currently being built by Austal. The ship was assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One. Littoral Combat Ships are a set of two classes of surface vessels designed for operations near shore by the US Navy. The EIPDA is accomplished within a period of approximately 12 weeks between the time of ship custody transfer to the Navy and the shipbuilding and conversion, obligation work limiting date. Work will include program management, advance planning, engineering, design, prefabrication, and material kitting and is expected to be completed by August this year.

January 17/19: Lockheed Martin to build LCS for Navy The Naval Sea Systems Command The Naval Sea Systems Command contracted Lockheed Martin with an undisclosed amount to build a littoral combat ship (LCS) in fiscal year 2019. The company will manage design, planning and testing operations as part of the fixed-price-incentive modification that exercises an option of a previously awarded contract. LCS are designed to operate near shore. In 2004 the US Department of Defense along with the US Navy selected two separate defense contracting teams led by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics to each carry out system design and options for the construction of two first- generation LC-ships. The Lockheed Martin Freedom-class design is a high-speed, semi-planing monohull. Under the current contract modification Lockheed Martin will perform and oversee all necessary design, planning, construction and test and trials activities in support of delivery of this ship to the Navy. Work is scheduled to be completed by February, 2026.

December 13/18: LCS-13 PSA The US Navy’s 13th Littoral Combat Ship is receiving its last finishing touches. Lockheed Martin is being awarded with a $16 million cost-plus-award-fee order in support of the USS Wichita. The contract provides for engineering and management services during the ship’s post shakedown availability (PSA). The company will provide the Navy with 65.000 man-hours of work and is responsible for work specification, pre-fabrication and material procurement. The USS Wichita is a Freedom-class LCS, designed to conduct anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, anti-air warfare, mine warfare, electronic warfare, and special operations. The PSA is assigned to newly built, activated or converted ships upon completion of a shakedown cruise. Work performed is focused on correcting defects noted during the shakedown cruise and those remaining from Acceptance Trails. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland; New York and Marinette, Wisconsin. The PSA is expected to be completed by February 2020.

November 20/18: Saudi contract Lockheed Martin is being awarded with a contract modification to continue work on Saudi Arabia’s new warships. The undefinitized contract action modification provides for long-lead-time material and detail design in support of the construction of four Multi-Mission Surface Combatant ships (MMSC). The order is valued at $282 million and includes Foreign Military Sales funding in the amount of $124 million. The MMSC is a derivative of the US Navy’s Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship. Its mission capabilities include anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, anti-air warfare, mine warfare, electronic warfare, and special operations. Saudi Arabia’s new ships will be fitted with Mk-41 VLSs, Lockheed’s COMBATSS-21 Combat Management Systems, CIWS, a Mk-75 76mm OTO Melara Gun and several missile systems. Work will be performed at Lockheed’s locations in Marinette, Wisconsin; Baltimore, Maryland; Herndon, Virginia; Moorestown, New Jersey; Manassas, Virginia and San Diego, California. Performance of the contract is expected to be completed by October 2025.

September 28/18: LCS-18 PSA The US Navy’s next Littoral Combat Ship is getting its last finishing touches. Austal is receiving a cost-plus-award-fee order valued at $16.5 million. The contract provides for material and work during the USS Charleston’s post shakedown availability (PSA). LCS-18 is an Independence-class ship. The high speed trimaran offers an especially large flight deck and internal mission volume. The hull is aluminum, but the trimaran design offers additional stability options, and may help the ship survive side hits. The PSA is assigned to newly built, activated or converted ships upon completion of a shakedown cruise. Work performed is focused on correcting defects noted during the shakedown cruise and those remaining from Acceptance Trails. Work will be performed at shipyards in Mobile, Alabama and San Diego, California. Work is expected to be completed by August 2019.

September 20/18: Fleet grow by three The Navy is ordering one Freedom-class LCS from Lockheed Martin and two Independence-class LCSs from Austal. Both companies are being awarded with fixed-price-incentive firm target modifications to previously awarded contracts. The DoD press release however does not specify the value of those modifications because the price-tag is considered to be a ‘source selection sensitive information’ as stated under in 42 in US Code 2101 and Federal Acquisition Regulations 2.101 and 3.104. Austal received an initial $584.2 million contract (N00024-17 C-2301) for the construction of one LCS-2 on October 6, 2017. The ships to be built will be the 33rd, 34th and 35th littoral combat ships in the fleet, and will exceed the 32-ship requirement set by the Navy. Appropriators, however are slashing funds for the acquisition of necessary mission modules in the 2019 Defense Department funding bill, raising concerns about future program delays. Work will be performed at various locations, including – but not limited to – Mobile, Alabama; Cincinnati, Ohio; Marinette, Wisconsin and Monrovia, California, and is expected to be completed by September 2024.

September 14/18: MQ-8C qualifies Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8C Fire Scout qualifies for automated sea mine hunting operations. During the recently held US Navy Advanced Naval Technology Exercise, the unmanned helicopter successfully coordinated with a small robotic surface ship and unmanned submersible, by serving as a communications relay and situational awareness platform. The MQ-8C is an unmanned Bell 407 designed to operate from the Freedom and Independence class LCS, collect surveillance, conduct mine hunting and anti-submarine warfare missions. In the future the drone may be armed with the advanced precision kill weapon system (APKWS), a BAE Systems product that transforms unguided 2.75-inch rockets into a precision-guided round. The Fire Scout completed its initial operational test and evaluation on board the USS Coronado in July.

September 3/18: Engine change The USS Michael Monsoor is ready to sail again. Shipbuilder Bath Iron Works recently completed the replacement of one of the massive turbines needed to power the DDG-1001. The Navy decided to replace the unit after it noticed an unusual vibration during sea trials and discovered afterward that a foreign object had damaged some of the blades. The Zumwalt class destroyers are powered by two Rolls-Royce MT30 turbines, similar to those used on Boeing 777 passenger jets.

August 2/18: USS Tulsa enters PSA The US Navy’s next Littoral Combat Ship is currently entering its post-shakedown availability (PSA). Austal is being awarded a cost-plus-award-fee order with a value of $14.8 million. The company will provide engineering and management services in support of the USS Tulsa (LCS 16), including work specification development, prefabrication efforts and material procurement. The USS Tulsa is an LCS-2 Independence class vessel which is a futuristic but practical high-speed trimaran, based on Austal designs and experience with vessels like the US Marines’ Westpac Express high-speed transport. LCS 16 carries a General Dynamics designed combat system, and standard LCS weapon fittings. Work will be performed in Mobile, Alabama and San Diego, California. The PSA is expected to be completed by August 2019.

July 18/18: More orders Lockheed Martin is being awarded a modification in support of the Navy’s LCS program. The un-definitized contract action modification has a value of $450.7 million and provides for long-lead-time material and detail design in support of the construction of four Multi Mission Surface Combatant ships. Lockheed Martin MMSC (Multi-Mission Surface Combatant) is a derivative of the US Navy’s Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship. The MMSC platform can be configured with a variety of sensors and weapons based on operational requirements of the naval customer. It also allows for interoperability with the US Navy and allied naval forces in joint operations. Its mission capabilities include anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, anti-air warfare, mine warfare, electronic warfare, and special operations. This modification brings the total cumulative face value to over $1 billion. The contract also includes a $225.3 million US foreign military sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Work will be performed at multiple locations inside and outside the continental US. They include Crozet, Virginia; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Baltimore, Maryland and the UK. Production is expected to be completed by October 2025.

June 20/18: Mission updates The Navy is contracting Advanced Acoustic Concepts LLC in support of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) platform. The cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-reimbursement modification is valued at $12.2 million and provides for software engineering services to support the LCS Mission Modules program. The Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship has been designed to counter a number of “asymmetric” threats like coastal mines, quiet diesel submarines, global piracy, and terrorists on small fast attack boats. Instead of designing a single platform that is able to take over those tasks the Navy opted for developing a ship that can be adapted to specific mission requirements by integrating swappable mission modules. Therefore, the LCS program includes packages for Mine Warfare, Anti-submarine Warfare and Surface Warfare. The LCS Mission Modules Program Office packages a variety of technologies to these ends, many of which are produced by other program offices and delivered as elements of a particular mission module. Work will be performed in Hauppauge, New York; Columbia, Maryland and Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed by June 2019.

June 15/18: Sustained support Q.E.D Systems is being awarded a contract in support of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class. Valued at $15 million the cost-plus-incentive fee, cost-plus-fixed fee, cost-only contract allows for the procurement of long lead time material in support of the LCS class ships’ maintenance and sustainment availabilities. The $35 billion LCS program is the Navy’s idea for the low-end backbone of its future surface combatant fleet. At 115 – 127 meters in length and 2,800 – 3,100 tons of displacement the US LCS is almost the size of Britain’s Type 23 frigates. LCSs can be reconfigured with a variety of mission modules. In addition, the vessels are armed with a 57mm naval gun, .50 caliber machine guns, plus defensive systems including automated chaff/flare dispensers and a launcher for Raytheon’s RIM-116 RAM, which allows the ship to intercept anti-ship missiles, aircraft, UAVs, helicopters, and even small boats. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $237 million. Work will be performed in San Diego, California and Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by June 2019.

March 20/18: Mission modules Northrop Grumman will deliver services in support of littoral combat ship (LCS) mission modules for the US Navy. Valued at $46.7 million, the contract modification was announced by the Pentagon last Wednesday, March 15, and tasks Northrop with providing engineering, technical and sustainment services for the Navy’s littoral combat ship mission modules—which are designed for naval operations against asymmetric threats and anti-access obstacles in littorals near the coastline. Work will take place Bethpage, New York, San Diego, California, and several other US locations with contract completion scheduled for March 2019.

February 5/18: USS Omaha-Commissioning The newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), USS Omaha, was commissioned into service on Saturday, February 3, at the Broadway pier in San Diego. As the 11th LCS to enter the fleet and the sixth of the Independence-variant design to enter service, attendees at the ceremony include former Navy SEAL officer and Medal of Honor recipient Bob Kerrey—who also served in the US Senate and as governor of Nebraska—Warren Buffett’s daughter, Susie Buffett—who served as the vessel’s sponsor, as well as San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. The LCS-class consists of the Freedom-variant, made by Lockheed Martin, and the Independence-variant, made by Austal USA.

January 24/18: USS Little Rock-“Littoraly” Stuck! The US Navy’s latest Freedom-class littoral combat ship (LCS), USS Little Rock, has found itself caught in the ice in Montreal, Canada. Recent cold fronts from the Arctic has caused record cold temperatures throughout December and January, with ice forming faster than normal in the Seaway. Little Rock, which was commissioned in Buffalo, New York on December 16, with significant snowfall already falling, and the plan was to then transit the Seaway to reach the Atlantic Ocean, before continuing on to Mayport, Florida. Now, its is likely the vessel will be stuck in Montreal until the ice thaws in March, with the crew to continue to focus on training, readiness and certifications.

November 9/17: The US Navy has awarded a $22.4 million contract to BAE Systems to exercise options for post-shakedown availabilities (PSA) for the USS Little Rock and USS Sioux City littoral combat ships (LCS). Work will be carried out onboard USS Little Rock LCS-9 and USS Sioux City LCS-11 Freedom-class littoral combat ships at BAE’s facility in Jacksonville, Fla., with completion scheduled for February 2019. PSA activities are usually carried out to correct deficiencies found during the shakedown cruise or to accomplish other authorised improvements.

October 09/17: Austral USA, the Mobile, Alabama-based subsidiary of the Australian shipbuilder has been awarded a $584.2 million modification to a previously awarded US Navy contract for the construction of a littoral combat ship (LCS). Under the terms of the deal, the firm will perform and oversee all necessary design, planning, construction and test and trials activities in support of delivery of the vessel to the Navy, with a scheduled completion date set for October 2023. Work will primarily take place at Mobile, Alabama, but also at several other east coast locations. The Navy expects to release a competitive solicitation(s) for additional LCS class ships in future years, and therefore the specific contract award amount for these ships is considered source selection sensitive information and for the time being, will not be made public.

September 28/17: Shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine has delivered the future USS Little Rock, a Freedom variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), to the US Navy. The Little Rock—completed last summer and is expected to be commissioned into service in December—is the Navy’s 11th LCS and the fifth Freedom variant delivered to and accepted by the service. Speaking on addition Freedom-class LCS vessels under construction, Fincantieri added that the future USS Sioux City will enter into trials soon, the future USS Wichita was christened and launched in September of last year and is conducting system testing in the Menominee River, and the future USS Billings was launched in July and is to begin trials next year.

September 04/17: Future Littoral Combat Ship USS Little Rock (LCS 9) has completed its acceptance trials, attaining the highest score of the five Freedom-class LCS vessels completed to date. During the five-day trial, it completed a full-power run along with all associated steering and maneuvering events and also surface and air self-defense detect-to-engage exercises, as well as demonstrating the performance of the ship’s propulsion plant, auxiliary systems and the ship’s handling. Manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine are now preparing Little Rock for delivery to the Navy in the coming weeks.

August 29/17: In a littoral combat ship (LCS) first, the US Navy successfully used a UAV to provide over-the-horizon targeting information and damage assessment for a missile that was launched from an LCS vessel. The ship in question, the Independence-class LCS USS Colorado, was participating in exercises off the coast of Guam when it fired a RGM-84D Harpoon Block 1C missile that successfully struck a surface target at significant distance beyond the ship’s visual range. During the exercise, a Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout drone and a Lockheed Martin MH-60S Seahawk helicopter, both part of Coronado’s rotary-wing air detachment, provided targeting support for the Harpoon missile. The aircraft used radar, electro-optical systems and other sensors to locate the target, pass targeting information back to the ship via data link to refine the firing solution, monitor and assess the missile, and then carry out damage assessment on the target.

August 23/17: An industry team led by Lockheed Martin has successfully completed builder’s trials of the future Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Little Rock. Conducted on Lake Michigan, LCS 9 Little Rock went through a series of tests and evaluations of its primary systems and propulsion, including reaching flank speeds of over 40 knots. Four Freedom-class LCS vessels have been delivered to the Navy by Lockheed, with the Little Rock and eight others in various stages of production. They will serve alongside the larger Independence-class LCS produced by Austal USA.

July 6/17: The US Navy has christened its latest Freedom-class littoral combat ship the USS Billings during a ceremony in Marinette, Wis. Built by Lockheed Martin, Freedom-class LCS is the smaller of the two variants of the LCS, the other being the Independence-class constructed by Austral USA. It has a top speed of over 40 miles per hour and carries a variety of light guns, short-ranged missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes. Each LCS is outfitted with a single mission package made up of mission modules containing warfighting systems and support equipment.

May 25/17: The US Navy has awarded Raytheon a $14.7 million contract for maintenance and support of the AN/AQS-20 sonar mine detection system. Under the agreement, the company will work to improve the system’s performance and sustainability with work to include hardware and software upgrades, technology development, engineering and spare parts. Options available in the contract could bring the total value of the program to $77.1 million. The AN/AQS-20 towed mine hunting and identification array is deployed on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).

March 9/17: The US Navy completed the test-firing of a surface to surface missile module (SSMM) from littoral combat ship USS Detroit. This marks the first time that such a system was fired from an LCS platform as well as the first time such a platform utilized a vertical lift launch. By giving LCS vessels an SSMM package, the Navy will be able to engage the increasing threats posed from small boats by giving them an added lethality.

September 14/16: A US Navy announcement for an overhaul of the troubled Littoral Combat Ship program will include turning the first four ships into test vessels. The change comes after the naval branch announced an engineering stand-down for LCS crews following an August 29 engineering casualty on the USS Coronado. Under Thursday’s plan, the Freedom, Independence, Fort Worth and Coronado will become single-crewed testing ships that could be deployed as fleet assets on a limited basis, the Navy said.

December 4/15: Experts from navies, academia and industry met in Tokyo this week to discuss the unique challenges of operating in the littoral or coastal environment. The Littoral OP Tech East conference is the first of its kind to be held in Asia, and looks at fostering increased innovation and creation of solutions to both new and old problems. Speakers stressed the importance of the development of new war-fighting concepts and increased operational capabilities of fleets. The meeting comes at a time when the US navy and its allies are looking to incorporate wider capabilities for all ships in its fleets and the rolling out of the new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class warship throughout various theatres.

December 1/15: The US Navy has released the remaining $279 million funding to Lockheed Martin for the next freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship. The funds will allow for the completion of the USS Cooperstown, the 29th LCS warship in service, and follows the $79 million granted by congress in March towards the construction. The announcement comes shortly after the commissioning of the USS Milwaukee last week.

November 24/15: The US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship Class (LCS) program is picking up speed as two more of the ships were launched over the last few days. November 20 saw the USS Omaha enter the water in Mobile, Alabama and the USS Milwawkee was commissioned the following day by the Mayor of Milwawkee. There are now five LCS class ships operational and they are being completed at an average of four per year. It is hoped that by 2018, 38 of the ships will have undergone construction in only 13 years and will be operating in shallow and coastal waters throughout the world.

October 27/15: The Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) will reportedly be equipped with over-the-horizon missiles for their next deployment, with the specific model not yet determined. With the Brookings Institution rightly pointing out that the LCS do not currently possess the power-projection capabilities recently demonstrated by Russia’s Caspian Sea fleet, the USN is likely looking to bolt-on additional muscle to the fleet following the cancellation of the Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) missile in April 2010. With the USS Coronado and USS Freedom scheduled for deployment next year, a Request for Proposals is expected by the end of this year.

October 21/15: The US State Department has approved the sale of up to four Littoral Combat Ship-based Multi Mission Surface Combatant Ships to Saudi Arabia, with these based on the Lockheed Martin Freedom-class LCS, as opposed to the Austal Independence-class. If lawmakers agree to the sale, a Foreign Military Sales contract can be drafted, with this likely to be signed early next year. The deal – potentially worth $11.25 billion – forms part of the Kingdom’s Eastern Fleet Modernization program.

October 20/15: The Navy has accepted delivery of the sixth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 5), the future USS Milwaukee. The Freedom-class vessel is the third of eight to be manufactured by Lockheed Martin, with the ship now scheduled for commissioning on 21 November. The USS Milwaukee will be homeported in San Diego with the rest of the LCS fleet.

FY 2015 LCS 7 & 8 christened; New TRS-4D radar for Freedom Class after LCS 15.

September 17/15: The Saudis are reportedly set to choose Lockheed Martin’s Littoral Combat Ship for the country’s Arabian Gulf-based frigate modernisation program, with a deal thought to be announced by the end of the year. The company is one of two teams constructing LCS for the US Navy. The Saudis have previously requested the ability for their LCS vessels to launch Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) air defense missiles but are thought to have dropped previous plans to procure the Aegis combat system owing to cost.

August 27/15: Austal is enjoying the start of the sweet spot of its $3.5 LCS contract, showing record profits and anticipating additional efficiencies as it starts to knock out the remaining 9 LCS ships.

August 18/15: The Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) has successfully conducted live-fire testing using the ship’s surface warfare mission module, firing the ship’s Mark 46 30mm cannon and Mark 110 57 mm gun, hitting surface targets off the West Coast. The BAE Systems Mk 110 gun equips the Navy’s LCS fleet as standard, with the Mark 46 forming part of the surface warfare (SuW) module.

July 21/15: Lockheed Martin has launched the ninth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the Freedom-class USS Little Rock (LCS 9). Austal christened LCS 8 (the USS Montgomery) in November 2014, with LCS 9 the fifth of eight LCS timetabled for construction by Lockheed Martin. The ship will now undergo testing and equipment fitting before being delivered to the Navy later this year.

Sources: US Navy Moving Forward With LCS | USNI News.

July 9/15: Littoral Combat Ship 6 (USS Jackson) has completed acceptance trials with the US Navy in the Gulf of Mexico. LCS 6 is the third Independence-class to be built by Austal, which shares the construction of the LCS program with Lockheed Martin under a $3.5 billion ten-ship block buy awarded in December 2010. The company laid the keel for the fourteenth LCS (USS Manchester) in late June this year, having already delivered two Independence-class vessels.

July 1/15: Austal has laid the keel of the fourteenth Littoral Combat Ship in Alabama, with the future ship destined to become the USS Manchester. Austal shares the construction of the LCS program with Lockheed Martin under a $3.5 billion ten-ship block buy awarded in December 2010.

Feb 23/15: USS Omaha keel laid, sixth in Independence class.

Austal USA laid the keel for the USS Omaha (LCS 12), the latest and sixth littoral combat ship in the Independence class.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel appears to have shied away from making any drastic dedision with the future of the LCS, by choosing to base 20 future Small Surface Combatants… based on “modified LCS hull designs.” The use of the plural form implies that there is no down-select to just one of the 2 LCS designs. By omission, mine warfare seems out, since modular requirements are maintained solely for capabilities against surface ships and submarines.

Predictably the SSCs will have to be both more survivable and better armed, since these points are among the weaknesses most often pointed out by LCS detractors. The list of goodies to achieve that:

over-the-horizon surface-to-surface missiles



air defense sensor and weapon upgrades



1 advanced electronic warfare system



advanced decoys



1 towed array system for submarine detection and torpedo defense



2 25mm guns



1 armed helicopter equipped with Hellfire missiles and MK-54 torpedoes



1 unmanned FireScout helicopter for surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting

The armed helicopter and rotorcraft are not new, and 25mm guns are not going to make much of a difference except against the smallest threats. The rest is getting SSCs closer to how LCS has been pitched to export prospects, and to what even smaller ships pack in foreign fleets. Beyond that, the Navy still has to pin down many specifics, discuss crew size, or explain how they will contain costs.

Nov 17/14: CSBA Paper. The non-partisan CSBA releases “Commanding the Seas: A Plan to Reinvigorate U.S. Navy Surface Warfare.” Their recommendations are wide ranging, including a major shift in US Navy weapons configurations toward higher capacity medium-range air defenses. That would take place in order to free up VLS cells for long-range offensive surface attack, anti-submarine, and air-denial weapons.

The paper believes that LCS ships should be forward based abroad, given their limited range and low ability to maintain themselves at sea. Their mission packages should also be disentangled from the LCS platform, creating “independent, stand-alone capability sets that could be carried on a wide range of ships in the National Fleet.” Beyond that, the SSC/ LCS could take advantage of LCS’ higher power generation to mount anti-aircraft rail guns and/or lasers, hosting RIM-162 ESSM air defense missiles, and distributing offensive attack capabilities via their VLS cells.

The paper recommends that the Navy pick 1 existing LCS design to convert to the SSC, adding a vertical launch system and retrofitting VLS to some of the Flight 0 ships as well. The problems come down to capability and cost. At minimum, an SSC derived from the LCS would need to carry the ASW mission package full-time, and incorporate longer-range missile capabilities via a vertical launch system. The reality is that the cost is inevitably higher than the $515 million for an LCS with the ASW package, but the Navy isn’t planning for any increase as it plans for 20 SSC ships. This is so even though the FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry Class, which was developed in the 1980s as a similar sort of budget frigate platform, would cost $774 million in adjusted modern dollars. Conclusion? The Navy won’t get 20 SSCs, which is one more reason to retrofit VLS cells on Flight 0 LCS ships. Sources: CSBA, “Commanding the Seas: A Plan to Reinvigorate U.S. Navy Surface Warfare” (incl. full PDF) | USNI, “CSBA Recommends New Course for U.S. Navy Surface Forces”.

Nov 8/14: LCS 8 christened. The US Navy christens the Independence Class LCS 8 Montgomery, in a ceremony at Austal USA’s Mobile, AL shipyard. The ship was launched in August 2014, and is making preparations for trials and delivery in late summer 2015. Austal adds that:

“Jackson (LCS 6) is preparing for sea trials in early 2015. Final assembly is well underway Austal USA’s Bay 5 on Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) and in Bay 4 on Omaha (LCS 12). Modules for Manchester (LCS 14) and Tulsa (LCS 16) are under construction in Austal USA’s Module Manufacturing Facility.”

Sources: Austal, “USS Montgomery (LCS 8) Christened: Second Independence-variant LCS christened this year”.

Oct 28/14: LCS-1 sensors. Airbus North America announces that Freedom Class ships will have a new and improved radar, beginning with LCS 17. Instead of the current TRS-3D, they’ll be equipped with the more powerful and flexible TRS-4D naval radar, a rotating version of the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) fixed panel GaN radar that equips Germany’s forthcoming F125 Class expeditionary frigates.

AESA radars offers a 2x-3x range or resolution boost compared to PESA technologies, and GaN circuits offer further improvements to a radar’s power to performance ratio. Flexibility comes from programming that can segment and shift all of its individual T/R modules in order to steer beams, offer near-simultaneous modes, actively illuminate multiple targets, etc. What it doesn’t offer yet, is the Saab Sea Giraffe AMB’s ability to backtrack incoming artillery and rocket fire to its origin point.

There’s talk of moving to a single LCS radar, and maybe even a single combat system for the entire class. The TRS-3D was seen as being a step behind the LCS-2 Independence Class’ Sea Giraffe AMB, which can also backtrack incoming artillery to its origin point. The TRS-4D counters with superior overall performance, and strengthens EADS as a contender against the USMC’s TPS-80 G/ATOR, Saab’s Sea Giraffe 4A AESA, etc. It also improves Team Lockheed’s overall radar/ combat system position, which is already strong because of its interface commonalities with Aegis. Sources: Airbus North America, “New Radars Provided by Airbus Defense and Space, Inc., to Support Improved Survivability for the Freedom Variant Littoral Combat Ships”.

Oct 18/14: LCS 7 christened. The US Navy christens and side-launches trhe Freedom Class LCS 7 Detroit, in a ceremony at Marinette Marine Shipyard, WI. We’re trying to resist the temptation to make a crack about ceremonially burning down the mission module area, but we can’t resist. On the other hand, the city of Detroit hasn’t given up. A ship could do worse.

Detroit will continue to undergo outfitting and testing at Marinette until her expected delivery to the Navy in late 2015. Sources: US Navy, “Navy Christens, Launches Future USS Detroit” | LMCO, “Lockheed Martin-Led Team Launches Future USS Detroit”.

Oct 14/14: LCS-2 Support. Austal USA, LLC in Mobile, AL receives an $8.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise an option for Core LCS-2 Independence Class Services. They’ll assess engineering and production challenges, evaluate costs and schedule risks for engineering change proposals, and keep up class baseline documentation. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 US Navy shipbuilding budgets.

Work will be performed in Mobile, AL (60%), and Pittsfield, MA (40%), and work is expected to be complete in October 2015 (N00024-11-C-2301).

Oct 12/14: 57mm gun. The US Navy has removed BAE’s Mk.110 57mm naval gun from their DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class ships. The reported reason was that the 30mm Mk.46 RWS did better against key target types like small boats than the Mk.110 or notional 76mm guns. That’s more than slightly surprising to some observers, who note that a 30mm cannon is only lethal within about a mile – but the Navy is saying that they were equally surprised. Program Manager Capt. Jim Downey is quoted saying that:

“They were significantly over-modeled on the lethality…. The results of the actual live test-fire data was that the round was not as effective as modeled…. it gets into the range of the threat – the approach of the threat, what the make-up of the threat is and how it would maneuver, how it would fire against our ship. There is a whole series of parameters that are very specific on what the threat is and how you take it out through a layer of defenses…. not what we expected to see.”

Downey categorically denies that the Mk.110’s 10+ ton weight difference was an issue, and also confirmed that his program’s findings haven’t been shared with other NAVSEA entities like PEO LCS, let alone the Coast Guard who uses the gun on some cutters. The Navy is working on creating those mechanisms, but they don’t exist yet. Defense News, “Experts Question US Navy’s Decision To Swap Out DDG 1000’s Secondary Gun”.

Oct 9/14: LCS 7. Lockheed Martin Corp. in Baltimore, MD receives a $10.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, exercising an option for LCS 7 Detroit’s post-delivery support. This is normal, and involves deferred design changes that have been identified during the construction period, before the post-delivery test and trials. $500,000 in (FY 2011?) US Navy shipbuilding budgets is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Marinette, WI (57%); Hampton, VA (14%); Moorestown, NJ (11%); San Diego, CA (11%); and Washington, DC (7%), and is expected to be complete by October 2016 (N00024-11-C-2300).

Oct 9/14: LCS 8. Austal USA in Mobile, AL receives a $10.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, exercising an option for LCS 8 Montgomery’s post-delivery support. This is normal, and involves deferred design changes that have been identified during the construction period, before the post-delivery test and trials. $500,000 in FY 2011 US Navy shipbuilding budgets is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Mobile, AL (70%); Pittsfield, MA (20%); and San Diego, CA (10%), and is expected to be complete by October 2016 (N00024-11-C-2301).

FY 2014 Orders for ships 17-20; Congress wimps out on oversight, but then USN wants to stop at 32 ships; USN finally wakes up to the importance of “combat” with the SSC frigate idea, but is it too late? BIW wins multi-year support contract for both types; LCS 5 & 6 launched; Mayport, FL to host 6 Freedom Class ships; Poor performance on LCS 1 deployment to Singapore; Naval Strike Missile test from LCS 4; Could rail guns and lasers save the day?; LCS lifecycle costs are high; Weight margins are a huge problem for LCS, and so is under-manning.

Sept 25/14: GAO on lead ships. The GAO issues a report saying that the Navy technically stayed within acquisition regulations in its acceptance of the 2 lead ships, thanks to cost-reimbursement contractual clauses. But extensive use of waivers to expedite LCS 1 and LCS 2 trials and acceptance, and for a variety of short-term concerns, led to a lot of additional time and money spent later on. That discussion may seem somewhat moot a decade after the initial contract awards, but consequences are felt to this day:

“Even as of August 2014, the combat management system continued to face significant limitations, which has restricted its use during fleet operations.”

Separately, the April 17 SAR report, obtained 2 months later through the Freedom of Information Act, shows the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) for LCS 2 is now set for August 2015, followed by Initial Operational Capability (IOC) 1 month later. According to the Navy, that delay trickled down from delayed completion of the Mine Countermeasures Mission Package’s (MCM MP) own IOT&E. Despite all of the delays, the first 2 ships in the class still don’t look very capable. Sources: GAO-14-827, “Navy Complied with Regulations in Accepting Two Lead Ships, but Quality Problems Persisted after Delivery” | CRS, “Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress” [Aug 4/14 update, PDF] | SAR [PDF].

LCS + NSM

Sept 23/14: Weapons. The US Navy confirms a successful live fire test of Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile from USS Coronado [LCS 4], via a launcher mounted on the flight deck.

NSM is a full-range, stealthy sub-sonic missile that delivers both anti-ship and land attack capability. Its presence would instantly turn the SuW module into something other than a joke, but the Navy is noncommittal about issuing a requirement that would lead to NSM integration with the existing LCS fleet. What is certain, is that a missile of this nature will be required as part of any SSC frigate derivatives. Sources: US Navy, “Navy Successfully Tests Norwegian Missile from LCS 4” | Kongsberg, “Successful test firing of KONGSBERG’S Naval Strike Missile from US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship” | USNI, “Norwegian Missile Test On Littoral Combat Ship Successful.”

Sept 9/14: SSeCret. A classified briefing for the House Armed Services Committee about the findings of the small surface combatant task force is postponed at the last minute, with a new date yet to be rescheduled. A Navy spokesperson tells USNI that all they’re willing to talk about at this point is their thought process. The report itself was submitted internally on July 31, but the Navy does not want to talk about its content before budget negotiations with the Pentagon. If the past is any indication, the Navy will keep Congress in the dark as long as possible. Ronald O’Rourke notes in his CRS report, about the aborted 2009-10 downselect:

“…this was the third time in the history of the LCS program that the Navy presented Congress with an important choice about the future of the LCS program late in the congressional budget-review cycle, after Congress had completed its spring budget-review hearings and some of its committee markups.”

If the Navy wants ships in this category before the end of the decade, some sort of LCS 2.0 seems a much more realistic option rather than a brand new design – short of buying an off-the-shelf design abroad. So much for Secretary Hagel’s call that “all options are on the table” – and the core reason is the US Navy’s history of added costs and slow execution for ship designs that they haven’t fielded before. Source: USNI, “HASC Cancels LCS Replacement Briefing Over Lack of Information.”

Aug 22/14: Support. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, ME receives an initial $9.8 million cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide planning yard services in support of both variants of in-service Littoral Combat Ships. Bath Iron Works will be the single planning yard, providing engineering, planning, ship configuration, material and logistics support to maintain and modernize both variants of the LCS class, managing the scheduling of all planned, continuous, and emergent maintenance, and associated maintenance periods that involve multiple private and public organizations. $6.2 million in FY 2014 US Navy O&M budgets are committed immediately, and options could bring the contract’s cumulative value to $100.4 million. Work will be performed in Bath, ME and is expected to be complete by August 2015. This contract was competitively procured via FBO.gov with 3 offers received. US NAVSEA in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024-14-C-4313). Dual-class Planning Yard services

Aug 22/14: Support. CACI Technologies, Inc. in Chantilly, VA is being awarded a $25.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for professional support services in support of Program Executive Office LCS. Services include professional services in the areas of: program management and acquisition support, technical and engineering support, business and financial management support and logistics support. $15 million is committed immediately from various budgets, and this contract includes options which could bring its cumulative value to $44 million.

Work will be performed in Washington, DC (90%); Norfolk, VA (4%); San Diego, CA (2%); Panama City, FL (2%); Newport, RI (1%); and Monterey, CA (1%), and is expected to be complete by February 2015. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented in FAR 6.302-1. US NAVSEA in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024-14-C-6307).

Aug 7/14: Basing. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announces that Naval Station Mayport, FL, will be receiving 6 Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ships: LCS 9 Little Rock, LCS 11 Sioux City, LCS 13 Wichita, LCS Billings, LCS 17 Indianapolis, and LCS 19. NS Mayport, which recently lost its frigates, will pick up about 900 Sailors and support personnel. Sources: Maritime Executive, “Six Navy LCS’ Find Homeport”.

July 31/14: LCS-1 Support. Rolls Royce Marine North America in Walpole, MA receives a $9 million firm-fixed-price repair order for the repair of 1 MT-30 gas turbine engine for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Freedom variant, including re-assembly into the LCS configuration, and pass-off testing to validate performance. All funding is committed immediately, using FY 2014 US Navy O&M budgets.

Work will be performed in Bristol, UK and is expected to be complete by February 2016. The order was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 USC. 2304(c)(1), by US NAVSEA in Washington, DC (N00104-09-G-A755).

LCS testing plan

(click to view full)

July 30/14: GAO Report. The US GAO releases another LCS-related report, which looks at the program as a whole but has a greater emphasis on the class’ weight issues. Both initial ships have inadequate weight margins, and the LCS-2 Independence Class will stay that way even after the design is stabilized for LCS 6, with just 31.3 tons to spare (3,156.7 tons of 3,188.0 Naval Architectural Limit) instead of 50. The LCS-1 Freedom Class does better, with 67.3 tons to spare by LCS 5 (3,482.7 tons of 3,550.0 NAL). GAO recommends changes to contractor weight reporting, whose lack of centralized tracking has contributed to surprise weight problems.

Low margins are problematic, because they harden the 105-ton limit for mission packages, and limit or inflate the cost of weapon upgrades, extra crew, or other changes needed to make the