FREEDOM CLASS LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP

- ENSURING FREEDOM OF AMERICAN

SEAS

INTRODUCTION
The Freedom class is one of two classes of littoral combat ship built for
the United States Navy.
The Freedom class was proposed by Lockheed Martin as a contender for
USN plans to build a fleet of small, multipurpose warships to operate in
the littoral zone.
Two ships were approved, to compete with the Independence-class
design offered by General Dynamics and Austal for a construction
contract of up to 55 vessels.
As of 2013, two ships are active and a third is under construction.

DESIGN
The ship is a semi-planing steel monohull with an aluminum superstructure. It is 377 feet (115
m) in length, displaces 2,950 metric tons, and can go faster than 45 knots (83 km/h; 52 mph).
The design incorporates a large reconfigurable seaframe to allow rapidly interchangeable
mission modules, a flight deck with integrated helicopter launch, recovery and handling
system and the capability to launch and recover boats from both the stern and side.
The flight deck is 1.5 times the size of that of a standard surface ship, and uses a Trigon
traversing system to move helicopters in and out of the hangar.
The ship has two ways to launch and recover various mission packages: a stern ramp and a
starboard side door near the waterline.
The mission module bay has a 3-axis crane for positioning modules or cargo.
The fore deck has a modular weapons zone which can be used for a 57 mm gun turret or
missile launcher.
A Rolling Airframe Missile launcher is mounted above the hangar for short-range defense
against aircraft and cruise missiles, and .50-caliber gun mounts are provided topside.

DETAILS
LCS is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore
environments yet capable of open-ocean operation.

It is designed to defeat asymmetric "anti-access" threats such as mines, quiet diesel

submarines and fast surface craft.

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).
The Independence variant team is being led by General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works (LCS
2 and LCS 4) and Austal USA (for the subsequent even-numbered hulls).

OVERVIEW
Builders: Lockheed Martin
Operators: United States Navy
Cost: $670.4 million
Building: 2
Planned: 12
Completed: 2
Active: 2

SPECIFICATIONS
Type: Littoral combat ship
Displacement: 3,000 t (3,000 t) (full load)
Length: 378 ft (115 m)
Beam: 57.4 ft (17.5 m)
Draft: 12.8 ft (3.9 m)

REFERENCES
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/littoral/
http://defense-update.com/images/lcs_freedom.jpg
http://shipwreckology.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/lcs-5-9201.png
http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/lcs1/PublishingImages/uss-freedom.jpg
http://media.defenceindustrydaily.com/images/SHIP_LCS-GD_cutaway.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom-class_littoral_combat_ship

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