According to information released by the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States Navy has christened its newest Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the future USS Nantucket (LCS 27), during a ceremony that was held in Marinette, Wisconsin.
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Artist rendering future LCS 27 USS Nantucket Freedom-variant littoral combat ship LCS. (Picture source seaforces.org)
The LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats. The platform is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence.
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 in Marinette, Wisconsin (for the odd-numbered hulls). The Independence-variant team is led by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).
The USS Nantucket (LCS-27) is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship built for the U.S. Navy by Marinette Marine. The contract to build the new ship was awarded in October 2017.
In October 2019, Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine started construction of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 27, the future USS Nantucket, with a ceremony in Marinette. The LCS ship is designed to support mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions today and is easily adapted to serve future and evolving missions tomorrow.
The Freedom-class is one of two classes of the U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship program. The design of the ship is based on a semi-planing steel monohull with an aluminum superstructure. She has a length of 115 m, a beam of 57.4 m, a draft of 12.8 m, and a fully loaded displacement of 3,900 tons.
The Freedom-class is powered by two Rolls-Royce MT30 36 MW gas turbines developing 48,000 hp., two Colt-Pielstick 16PA6B 6.8 MW diesel engines developing 9,100 hp., and four Rolls-Royce waterjets. She can reach a maximum speed of 47 knots (87 km/h) with a maximum cruising range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h).
The Freedom-class is armed with one BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm naval gun, one Mk 49 launcher with 21 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Surface-to-Air Missiles, four .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, two 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II guns, eight RGM-184A Naval Strike Missiles, 24 AGM-114L Hellfire missiles (planned part of SUW module). The ship can be also fitted with a Lockheed Martin 150 kW High Energy Laser weapon system.
