US Navy's Small Combat Ship/Frigate Will Retain Some Modularity from LCS

The US Navy's (USN's) future multimission frigate will retain some of the modular features found in the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) but will do so in a manner "more innate and inherent" than the resident capability on board the original class, the officer responsible for acquiring the navy's small surface combatants said on 1 December.

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Littoral Combat Ship Derived Frigates Will NOT Retain LCS Speeds

Whereas a high sprint speed was a driving factor in designing the Littoral Combat Ship, the follow-on frigate will instead be optimized for lethality and survivability, the Navy’s frigate program manager said Thursday.

As the LCS program transitions to a multimission frigate, the 40-knot sprint speed requirement will go away to allow for more armor, more weapons, an over-the-horizon missile and full-time anti-torpedo protection, Capt. Dan Brintzinghoffer said at an American Society for Naval Engineers event.

This change, he said, is a recognition of simple physics.

“If we don’t change anything [in the hull design] and add a lot of weight, they’re not going to go as fast as they do today,” he said, noting that a total redesign to maintain the high speed is out of the question.

“It’s acknowledging the reality of physics: it’s heavier, it’s not going to go as fast, and it’s no longer a requirement they have to design to.”

Instead, he said the frigate will be more lethal, more survivable, and will be able to conduct surface warfare and ant-submarine warfare simultaneously, whereas the LCS had to choose only one mission package to work with at any given time.

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Railgun, guys.  Just do it on the Independence derived frigate.

US Shipyards Gearing up for Small Combat Ship LCS Variants

With a decision taken by the US Navy (USN) to continue acquiring both Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) variants for the foreseeable future, the two LCS prime contractors are preparing for government discussions on modifying their respective seaframes to fulfill a requirement for more lethal and survivable versions of the fast shallow-water ships, company officials told IHS Jane's on 15-16 December.

Executives at Lockheed Martin Corp and Austal USA - the companies leading the two industry teams building the Freedom and Independence variants of LCSs, respectively - expressed excitement about the navy's decision to continue its 52-ship small surface combatant programme by acquiring modified versions of their Flight 0+ LCS.

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