The US Navy has received future USS St. Louis (LCS 19), its tenth Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, from Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine.
The ship was delivered after being christened in 2018 and completing trials in December 2019.
The navy has also received ten Independence-variant littoral combat ships, a 128.5-meter trimaran-hulled aluminium version of LCS delivered by Austal.
“With LCS 19’s delivery, the US Navy has ten Freedom-variant LCS in the fleet. LCS 7 recently deployed, and it is gratifying to know that our team has delivered a ship that is relevant for today’s fight and that is needed around the world,” said Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager, Small Combatants and Ship Systems. “Our team is encouraged by the positive feedback we’ve received about LCS 7 on deployment, and we continuously look to incorporate fleet input into capabilities on LCS hulls.”
Today, the 118-meter Freedom-variant LCS delivers capability in anti-submarine, surface and mine countermeasure missions. LCS was designed to evolve with the changing security environment. Today, as we see an increase in near-peer competition from large nation states, Lockheed Martin is partnering with the Navy to evolve LCS to meet these threats. Upgrades are already underway – the LCS computing infrastructures are receiving cyber upgrades and naval strike missiles are being installed in support of upcoming deployments.
LCSs are outfitted with mission packages (made up of mission systems and support equipment) that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors in support of mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare or surface warfare missions.
