Lockheed Martin Corporation – Maritime Systems & Sensors, Moorestown, N.J. ($46,501,821) and General Dynamics - Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine ($78,798,188) are each being awarded contract options for final system design with options for detail design and construction of up to two Flight 0 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). "Today’s Littoral Combat Ship decision represents an important milestone for the warfighter and the acquisition team," said John Young, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. "The acquisition team is successfully changing how we buy ships – completing the source selection on schedule and developing affordable designs that can adapt to changing technology. The strong efforts by our industry partners have produced LCS seaframe designs that deliver solid value for the taxpayer’s dollar and provide the speed, ride quality, and mission payload capacity sought by the fleet."
Operational experience and analyses indicate that potential adversaries will employ asymmetric capabilities to deny U.S. and allied forces access in critical coastal regions to include strategic chokepoints and vital economic sea lanes. Asymmetric threats will include small, fast surface craft , ultra-quiet diesel submarines and various types of mines. "The future for the Navy-Marine Corps team requires our naval forces to dominate the near land battlespace and provide access for our nation’s joint warfighting team," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark. "LCS will deliver capabilities to enable our Navy to dominate in this critical littoral region. These ships will be a vital component of tomorrow’s carrier strike groups (CSGs) and expeditionary strike groups (ESGs). We need this ship today."
The LCS is an entirely new breed of U.S. Navy warship. A fast, agile, and networked surface combatant, LCS’s modular, focused-mission design will provide Combatant Commanders the required warfighting capabilities and operational flexibility to ensure maritime dominance and access for the joint force. LCS will operate with focused-mission packages that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles to execute missions as assigned by Combatant Commanders. LCS will also perform Special Operations Forces (SOF) support, high-speed transit, Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO), Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), and Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP). While complementing capabilities of the Navy’s larger multi-mission surface combatants, LCS will also be networked to share tactical information with other Navy aircraft, ships, submarines, and joint units.