Littoral Combat Ship - Freedom/Independence

bobbymike said:

Triton said:

I thought that Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus was going to re-designate the LCS as a frigate (FF)?

Source:
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/naval/ships/2015/01/15/lcs-navy-frigate/21801559/

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I think that changed to actually building a new frigate in the form, possibly, of a larger stretched LCS design??

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I guess we only know that the last 20 Littoral Combat Ships, the up-gunned Small Surface Combatant, will be designated as a frigate (FF). What will happen to the designations of the first 32 Littoral Combat Ships remains to be seen.

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=90394

Surface to Surface Missile Test For LCS Successful

Story Number: NNS150730-17
Release Date: 7/30/2015 4:00:00 PM
From Program Executive Office Littoral Combat Ships

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Engineering development tests of modified Longbow Hellfire missiles for use on littoral combat ships (LCS) were successfully conducted in June the Navy reported July 30.

Integration of the Longbow Hellfire missile system, designated the Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM), will increase the lethality of the Navy's fleet of littoral combat ships. The SSMM is expected to be fully integrated and ready to deploy on LCS missions in late 2017.

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bring_it_on said:

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Seeing the picture I can imagine an four or five ship LCS "wolf pack" of ships could you fit a few VLS cells where the helipad is located? Then you could have an A2A, LRASM, anti-sub helicopter, etc. variants all working together.

"LCS Anti-Sub Warfare Package Too Heavy; 3 Contracts Issued For Weight Reduction Study"
by Megan Eckstein
July 30, 2015 5:13 PM

Source:
http://news.usni.org/2015/07/30/lcs-anti-sub-warfare-package-too-heavy-3-contracts-issued-for-weight-reduction-study

The Littoral Combat Ship’s anti-submarine warfare mission package needs to shed some weight before it can deploy on a ship, and the Navy awarded three contracts to help find weight-reduction ideas.

The mission package includes two mature and fielded sonar systems, plus the hardware needed to integrate the systems with the ship. LCS Mission Module Program Manager Capt. Casey Moton said Thursday at a Mine Warfare Association lunch that each of his three mission modules is given 105 metric tons of weight on the LCS, but the ASW as it stands today surpasses that limit.

The mission package includes a Variable-Depth Sonar – the Navy chose the Thales UK Sonar 2087, the same VDS used on the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate – as well as the Multi-Function Towed Array used on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDG-51) and eventually the Zumwalt-class destroyers (DDG-1000). The Navy cannot overhaul either mature system, so it has hired Advanced Acoustic Concepts, L-3 Communications and Raytheon to find more creative ways to reduce weight.

In the early stages of the weight-reduction effort, “we got proposals that ranged from modifying the sensors to reduce weight to things as simple as using composites in the handling system,” Moton said.
“So our initial contract is to three companies, and they will do a transition study for us over the next couple months that will give us a lot more insight.”

Each team will submit a package that brings the mission module to under 105 metric tons, and the Navy will then pick and choose which ideas it likes and use them to build engineering development models. Moton said his office had not decided how many EDMs to build but would make that decision over the next few months.

He said he could not recall how many tons over weight the current ASW package is, but “all three companies proposed schemes that would get us to the weight” and he was confident he could meet the requirement to get onboard a ship.

Also during his speech, Moton said his office was making some minor adjustments to the Lockheed Martin AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire radar-guided missile, which the Navy is adapting for use on the ship. The missile currently launches horizontally from a helicopter, and the Navy is making modifications so it can launch vertically and lock on its target after tipping into a horizontal position post-launch. The new version of the missile will be called the Surface-to-Surface Missile Module and should be fully integrated and ready for deployment by late 2017, according to a Navy statement.

The program office began tests on a research vessel at the end of February against “high-speed maneuvering targets out off the Virginia Capes.” That testing wrapped up in June, and based on the results, the office has to do “some tweaking – it’s really that level, tweaking – to the missile seeker and such.”

Another round of testing on the research vessel will take place in Fiscal Year 2016.

Moton also said his office is currently conducting a technical evaluation of the surface warfare mission package on USS Coronado (LCS-4). The package has already deployed twice, but both times on Freedom-variant LCSs. Coronado is an Independence-variant ship, with the same interfaces for the mission package but a different physical layout. Moton said the evaluation is “going very well.”

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"NAVSEA: Cutting Weight on Littoral Combat Ship ASW Mission Package Not a New Problem"
By: Sam LaGrone
August 4, 2015 4:03 PM

Source:
http://news.usni.org/2015/08/04/navsea-cutting-weight-on-littoral-combat-ship-asw-mission-package-not-a-new-problem

The Navy’s quest to cut weight from the planned Littoral Combat Ship anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission package is neither the result of weight gain in the planned systems nor a new requirement of the program, Naval Sea Systems Command told USNI News.
The need to reduce at least 15 percent of the weight of the systems is born instead of the service’s decision to use proven systems and always has long held plans to mount a weight reduction.

The statement follows the July 20 award of about $600,000 in contracts — split evenly between Advanced Acoustic Concepts, L-3 Communications and Raytheon — to trim 15 to 25 percent of the fat from the mission package.

NAVSEA said each companies proposal met the 15 percent weight reduction goal. USNI News first reported on the weight reduction effort last week.

Arguably the most technologically mature of the three planned LCS mission packages, the planned ASW package for the ships will center around the Thales UK Sonar 2087 variable depth sonar — in service with the U.K. Royal Navy for the last several years — and the Lockheed Martin TB-37/U Multi-Function Towed Array (MFTA) currently in use by the Navy.

“The Navy has decided to field the ASW MP in the most cost effective and efficient way by utilizing ‘off-the-shelf’ ASW sensor technologies, and focusing on integrating these into LCS,” read the statement from NAVSEA.

In particular, the Thales sonar promises to greatly expand the capability of the Navy to detect submarines beneath the sea’s thermal layers — an extreme shift in ocean temperature through which a hull mounted sonar has difficulty operating.

However, the off-the-shelf choice required the weight loss.

“The Navy desires to maintain the performance but reduce the weight as part of the repackaging in order to meet LCS interface standards,” the statement said.
“The awarded contracts are intended to do this, and this has been the Navy’s plan throughout the development effort.”

The Navy’s plan for the ASW package shifted dramatically in 2011 when it elected not to use Lockheed Martin’s Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV) — an autonomous vehicle still in use in the mine-countermeasures (MCM) package that would have fielded sonar arrays remotely — in favor of a so-called “in stride” capability for the mission package.

The success of the Sonar 2087 with the Royal Navy’s Duke-class Type 23 frigates was in part responsible for the shift in thinking, USNI News understands.

Moving forward, the Navy will evaluate the submissions from the trio and then decide if it will exercise the existing contract options to implement the slimming on the ASW mission package.

As of last year, the service had planned to buy 16 of the ASW mission packages for LCS.

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Posted: August 11, 2015 1:41 PM
Navy Accepts Delivery of LCS Jackson

MOBILE, Ala. — The Navy has accepted delivery of the future USS Jackson (LCS 6) during a ceremony at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala., a Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman announced in an Aug. 11 release.

Jackson is the sixth littoral combat ship (LCS) to be delivered to the Navy, the third of the Independence variant to join the fleet.

CAPT Warren R. Buller II, commander, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One, was on hand to mark the occasion.

“We are pleased to receive the future USS Jackson into the LCS class,” Buller said. “Jackson will operate out of Mayport, Fla., while conducting full ship shock trials, prior to joining her sister littoral combat ships in their homeport of San Diego in late 2016.”

Delivery marks the official transfer of LCS 6 from the shipbuilder, an Austal USA-led team, to the Navy. It is the final milestone prior to commissioning, which is planned for December in Gulfport, Miss.

“Today marks a significant milestone in the life of the future USS Jackson, an exceptional ship which will conduct anti-submarine, surface and mine countermeasure operations around the globe with ever increasing mission package capability,” said LCS program manager CAPT Tom Anderson. “It also marks a significant milestone for the LCS program, as the first of 20 LCS block buy ships delivers to the Navy. It is exciting to see these capable, yet affordable, ships transitioning from serial production to serial delivery.”

Following commissioning and shock trials, Jackson will be homeported in San Diego with sister ships USS Freedom (LCS 1), USS Independence (LCS 2), USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) and USS Coronado (LCS 4).

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/lcs-and-miw-you-knew-this-was-coming.html

http://www.naval-technology.com/news/newsus-navy-conducts-first-searam-missile-firing-from-its-lcs-4673589

Via a commentator over at CDR Salamander:


I seem to be at a loss for words a lot lately.

Speaking of "Distributed Lethality"

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/10/navys-distributed-lethality-will-reshape-fleet/?utm_campaign=Breaking+Defense+Daily+Digest&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=22732412&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--I6P9xJ5plkbO6KK_AzmFx5XKNv4fQBNkVwngMzm70sG3u-jW20B5x9Zxu4rKSh353KFrq5GgmILyZLjNoqqQj-Rh0Nw&_hsmi=22732412

http://www.govconwire.com/2015/10/state-dept-clears-11b-lcs-derived-ship-sale-to-saudi-arabia/


Dear Navy, will you swallow your pride and redeem yourself with this by piggyback on development cost shouldered by the saudis? Please say yes!

LCS To Get Missiles for Next Deployment

12:01 p.m. EDT October 25, 2015

WASHINGTON — The US Navy’s push to increase the lethality of the littoral combat ship (LCS) is getting a major and somewhat unexpected boost with word that an over-the-horizon (OTH) surface-to-surface missile will be installed on-board the next LCSs to deploy.

Rear Adm. Pete Fanta, director of surface warfare at the Pentagon, issued a directive on Sept. 17 calling for the installation of an unspecified OTH missile aboard the Freedom and the Coronado, the next two LCSs scheduled for deployment. The Freedom is to deploy to the Western Pacific during the first quarter of calendar year 2016, while the Coronado is to follow in the second or third quarter.

“The objective is to install the OTH missile system aboard all in-service LCS deploying to forward operating stations starting in fiscal year 2016,” Fanta wrote in the directive, “as well as on all under-construction LCS prior to their commissioning ceremonies.”

The LCS has been without a surface-to-surface missile since the cancellation in 2010 of the Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) missile, a program managed by the US Army that would have provided LCS with a significant weapon. Ever since, the service has been searching for a suitable replacement. A shipboard launch system for the Hellfire missile is being developed for smaller targets, but that weapon is unable to inflict significant damage on larger ships -- a role the OTH is meant to fill.

An OTH weapon is to be included in the LCS frigate variant now under development. The Navy has issued a request for information to industry for the frigate missile, and a request for proposals is expected later this year, but no missile has yet been chosen.

Fanta’s directive does not mention a specific missile, but it’s understood from sources that the missiles for the initial installations will be the Boeing Harpoon and Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM).

The idea, sources confirmed, is to try out both kinds of missile on both LCS variants, each ship deploying with only one model of missile installed.

The Harpoon is a tried-and-true weapon that has armed most US warships since the late 1970s. It is a normally mounted in launch canisters, usually grouped in a quad pack. Most ships carry two quad packs, for a total of eight weapons – the maximum number of weapons per ship specified in Fanta’s directive. Boeing has been at work to improve the weapon, in particular to give it longer range.

The Norwegian-built NSM, by contrast, is not a US program of record and is not in service with any US platforms, although it is in service with the Norwegian Navy. It is the only naval strike missile to be fired from an LCS, however. In a simple demonstration test, a single missile box launcher was loaded aboard the Coronado and fired on Sept. 23, 2014. The launcher sat on a rudimentary platform exhausting over the ship’s flight deck, and the missile was not integrated into the Coronado’s combat system.

Fanta’s directive, in fact, notes that “full integration with the LCS combat system is not required. A stand-alone console or computer terminal capable of consummating an engagement is sufficient for initial fielding.”

The directive, to the Program Executive Officer for Littoral Combat Ships (PEO LCS) and Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) at the Naval Sea Systems Command, calls for the installation of “the maximum number of missiles possible within the space, weight, power and cooling margins available. The initial design should be able to spiral to an eventual goal of eight missiles per ship.”

The missile system chosen, Fanta stipulated, “must be technologically mature with a demonstrated range.”

Fanta acknowledged in the directive that the missile installation on ships about to deploy is ahead of previous guidance, but noted the action is in line with moves to increase the lethality and survivability of the Navy’s small combatants.

The first priority for the new LCS frigate, he noted, is for an OTH surface-to-surface missile capability.

Numerous proposals have been provided by industry on how to fit missiles into the LCS designs. Lockheed Martin has offered vertical launch systems (VLS), usually in eight-cell groups, for the LCS 1 Freedom class, and such an installation is being provided on versions of the design approved for sale to Saudi Arabia.

Austal USA, builder of the LCS 2 Independence class all-aluminum variant, has also offered designs that include VLS.

Fanta, however, is said to prefer box launchers for LCS -- simpler, less costly and with less of an impact on a ship’s design. Drawbacks include the general inability to modify box launchers to accommodate improved or different missiles over the course of a ship’s service life.

The Freedom – the oldest LCS in service – is preparing for its second deployment to the western Pacific, where it will relieve the Fort Worth. The Coronado will be making the first deployment for the Independence class, which has been focusing on developing the mine-countermeasure mission module.

One element of the missile installation yet to be determined is how the shipboard system will be managed – either by the crew or the mission detachment that comes aboard to operate the modules.

The OTH system will be considered part of the surface warfare package, a Navy source said, and might also be carried when the ship is fitted with the anti-submarine warfare package. Out of the question, however, is its use when the mine countermeasure module is embarked. The greater weight of the mine module, the source said, precludes carrying the missiles.

It is also not clear what effect the directive will have on ships now under construction or set to enter service. The Milwaukee, third ship of the Freedom class, was accepted by the Navy on Oct. 16 and is to be formally commissioned Nov. 21 in a ceremony in her namesake city. The Jackson, third ship of the Independence class, was delivered to the Navy on Aug. 11 and is to be commissioned Dec. 5 in Gulfport, Mississippi.

More ships are nearing completion both at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, which builds the Freedom-class ships in Marinette, Wisconsin, and at Austal USA, building Independence-class ships in Mobile, Alabama.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/naval/ships/2015/10/25/lcs-littoral-combat-ship-fanta-mission-module-surface-warfare-missile-harpoon-naval-strike-missile-kongsberg-norwegian-fort-worth-freedom-coronado-independence-navy/74477482/

http://www.informationdissemination.net/2015/10/the-need-for-small-surface-combatant.html

Via Naval Graphics:

Is that graph to scale?

Looks about right. The trimaran LCS is significantly beamier than DDG-1000.

fredymac said:

Is that graph to scale?

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As far as I know, yes.

LCS-12

Via Slashdot: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/11/politics/remote-mine-hunting-drone-fails-tests/index.html

Via SNAFU: http://news.usni.org/2015/12/16/secdef-carter-directs-navy-to-cut-littoral-combat-ship-program-to-40-hulls-single-shipbuilder

EDIT: http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/oh-theres-lcs-news-go-get-gibbets.html

http://www.informationdissemination.net/2015/12/forfeiting-away-game-surface-navys.html

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/12/navy-fights-for-52-lcs-after-secdef-orders-cut-to-40-warfighting-vs-presence/

Aviation is too important to future warfare to not pick the Independence class as the LCS design going forward.

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/lcs-fitted-with-decorative-dental.html

About time... Now fix the rest

http://www.informationdissemination.net/2016/01/gao-wrong-on-lcs-survivability.html

Did the Independence Class go through TSST yet?

If so, results?

If not, when?

LCS-6 will undergo shock trials this summer, Spud.

SpudmanWP said:

Aviation is too important to future warfare to not pick the Independence class as the LCS design going forward.

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Independence is obvious a superior design, big deck, longer range (being more expensive one of the two of course). However, with the Saudis buying an extremely up gunned freedom class, I doubt the navy would not piggyback the Saudis since they shouldering all development cost.

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.ie/2016/01/breaking-dog-bites-man-lcs-breaks-down.html

http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/rimpac-2016-us-navy-will-test-fire-anti-ship-missile-from-littoral-combat-ship/

http://blog.usni.org/2016/02/24/hoping-for-milwaukees-best

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.ie/2016/02/so-bb-and-lcs-walk-in-to-bar.html

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.ie/2016/03/lcs-wwnrd.html

The remote mine hunting system looks like it might switch rides. Right now it is hosted on the Lockheed RMMV which is a semisubmersible autonomous ROV. The mine hunting package is a separate ROV (from another company) that is towed by the host vehicle. Now the Navy is halting further purchases of the RMMV and competing it against the Textron CUSV (a small boat ROV) and the General Dynamics Knifefish (a fully submersible ROV). Of course the RMMV might win the competition so who knows. It’s interesting that the competition are totally different in their operating environments.

The entire LCS architecture of ROV based warfighting (except for the surface warfare part) will probably be the future of warfare but it is the first naval platform to try this and is having to pay all the costs of working out the bugs. Boeing looks like it is trying to get in the act with a different concept where the ROV may be free roaming and isn’t deployed from the ship.

http://news.usni.org/2016/02/26/navy-will-not-buy-more-rmmvs-will-pursue-system-of-systems-approach-to-mine-countermeasures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9vPxC-qucw

LCS Cuts Could Strain Shipbuilding Industry (National Defense Magazine)

Lockheed Frigate Design to Use Proven Systems to Increase Affordability (National Defense Magazine)