What is the size of the main gun on US littoral combat ships?
110 57 mm
Standard armaments include Mk 110 57 mm guns and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles. They are also equipped with autonomous air, surface, and underwater vehicles. Possessing lower air defense and surface warfare capabilities than destroyers, the LCS concept emphasizes speed, flexible mission modules and a shallow draft.
Why are the littoral combat ships being decommissioned?
Larger ships have trouble operating in these areas because of the shallow water. But engine issues, mission module problems and the evolving state of the world have put the future of the ship in choppy waters. Several older Littoral Combat Ships are also being decommissioned due to the high cost of upgrading them.
Does LCS have VLS?
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.
Which ship is better Freedom or Independence?
The Independence Class is longer than the Freedom Class LCS at 419.6 feet (127.6 m) vs. 378.3 feet (115.3 m). The Freedom Class is the fastest LCS variant at 47 knots (54 mph/87 km/h) vs. 44 knots (51 mph/81 km/h) for the Independence Class.
How much does USS Independence cost?
Independence-class littoral combat ship
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Cost | $360 million |
| Built | 2008-Present |
| In commission | 2010-Present |
| Planned | 19 |
Why US Navy is retiring a 6 year old ship?
The littoral combat ships Freedom, Independence, Fort Worth and Coronado will all be inactivated on March 31, 2021, with Coronado being commissioned just six years ago. The Navy decided to cut the ships to save money on modernization efforts as it faces a mountain of shipbuilding bills and upgrade costs.
Who builds LCS Freedom?
Lockheed Martin
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.
What is a littoral combat ship?
The Littoral Combat Ship is the Navy’s newest class of warship. The INDEPENDENCE variant LCS is an aluminum Stabilized Slender Trimaran ship and the FREEDOM variant LCS is a steel Double Chine Advanced Semi-Planing Monohull ship. LCS Background.
What is an Independence class ship?
The Independence class is a class of littoral combat ships built for the United States Navy . The hull design evolved from a project at Austal to design a 40 knot cruise ship.
What is the service life of the USS Independence?
It’s been used as a testbed for mission package development and leaving the fleet well ahead of its expected 25-year service life. The 3,000-ton Independence and sister-ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) were the first two Independence-class trimaran ships built to compete for the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship contract.
What kind of armament does the independence ship have?
The Independence -class carries a default armament for self-defense, and command and control. Unlike traditional fighting ships with fixed armament such as guns and missiles, tailored mission modules can be configured for one mission package at a time.