Littoral Combat Ship - Freedom/Independence

Neither would I anymore...


The problems start at launch. Shorter ships such as Visby and the Indonesian trimaran can have hullform proportions and interactions with the seaway that mean that the most significant load case for the hullform structural design may not in fact be longitudinal bending, as is the case for a larger hullform. In some cases, the local loading due to engine installations etc may be far more significant.


This means that unconventional materials such as composites can be used as the bending loads are much less severe. Build a frigate out of composites and suddenly we are using the materials in a new way, where the anisotropic nature of composite strength, fatigue resistance etc will greatly complicate structural design.


Of course, this is not to say that one could not build a large vessel from composites - rather that it increases the risk, and thus expense, associated with doing so.


Regards,


RP1
 
Just the sort of answers I was hoping for. Thanks.
 
NLOS-LS Mission Module.
 

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There are parts of this, including the UISS, that seem to be directly LCS related: http://www.dtic.mil/descriptivesum/Y2013/Navy/stamped/0603502N_4_PB_2013.pdf
 
LCS-4 Trials Halted After Engine Fires
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_04_13_2013_p0-568862.xml
 
it seems like this program is beset with gremlins much like the Air Force's F-22/35.... :eek:
 
entlim said:
it seems like this program is beset with gremlins much like the Air Force's F-22/35 All new military programs.... :eek:

Fixed it for ya!Welcome aboard BTW!
 
http://gcaptain.com/littoral-combat-ship-network-can-be-hacked-navy-probe-find/
 
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/04/30/lcs-crew-discovers-seawater-in-freedoms-lube-oil/
 
Navy Sec. Mabus: LCS Freedom Ready To Keep Peace In The Pacific
http://breakingdefense.com/2013/05/03/navy-sec-mabus-lcs-freedom-ready-to-keep-peace-in-the-pacific/
...Freedom has been bedeviled by cost overruns, delays, and manufacturing defects, with a new problem, seawater contamination in lubricant fluid, arising on its trans-Pacific trip. But the bigger picture Mabus said, is how this new class of small and nimble ship will cooperate with foreign partners to keep the peace in the volatile South China Sea and the strategic Strait of Malacca.

“Freedom is the first of its class, and it was built as an experimental ship, and every first of the class has some issues,”...
Such an idiotic waste of time. The USN is gonna keep being forced to make modifications and add manpower until they end up with a frigate... and one not as good as if they had just ordered such in the first place.
 
Littoral Combat Ships are significantly smaller, less well-armed, and less resistant to battle damage than the Navy’s workhorse DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyers. But precisely for that reason, they’re less intimidating to partners whose navies often resemble the US Coast Guard more than the US Navy’s ocean-going battle fleet. The ship also has a significantly shallower draft than full-size warships, giving it better access to coastal waters like those of the congested Strait of Malacca. And if LCS were to show up in one of China’s mid-sea standoffs, it will still loom large compared to the lightly armed or entirely unarmed civilian maritime patrol vessels the Chinese usually (thought not always) dispatch instead of more escalatory warships.

Stability in the South China Sea is essential because, with all the turmoil in the Middle East, the last thing the planet needs is a crisis at the Pacific end of the great Gulf-to-Asia oil trade that drives half of the world’s economy. “Even in peacetime,” Mabus said in his formal remarks, a threat from an “unstable regime” (i.e. Iran) can send oil prices spiking.

“I use the term unstable regime because my public affairs officer, [Captain] Pamela Kunze, told me I had to quit using the word ‘yahoo,’” Mabus let slip, pointing out Capt. Kunze in the front row, and then went on, “the threat of some yahoo” — he had to pause a moment to let the laughter die down — “may drive prices up.”

Mabus may not have been particularly diplomatic, but the servicemen and women about the Singapore-stationed warships will need to be. Said the Secretary, “they have to be great warriors — but they also have to be great diplomats.”

Source:
http://breakingdefense.com/2013/05/03/navy-sec-mabus-lcs-freedom-ready-to-keep-peace-in-the-pacific/

Oh, LCS stands for Less-intimidating Combat Ship.
 
So I guess the analogy would be: from Armored SWAT Truck to Bicycle Patrol?
 
SWAT APC to a police cruiser is not a bad analogy, actually.
 
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130405/DEFREG02/304050016/LCS-Council-Adds-New-Member
 
USS Freedom Cuts Short Initial Singapore Underway
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_05_22_2013_p0-581101.xml

*Sigh* More of the same.
 
Austal LCS, JHSV Run Sea Trials

The second joint high speed vessel, USNS Choctaw County (JHSV 2), completed its acceptance trials May 3, the Naval Sea Systems Command announced on May 16. The all-aluminum catamarans are built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.

Spearhead, the first JHSV, was delivered in December, and is undergoing tests and evaluation at Little Creek, Va.,

All 10 JHSVs will be operated by the Military Sealift Command.

Also at Austal, the Coronado (LCS 4) completed its builder’s sea trials, interrupted April 13 when poorly-installed insulation on the ship’s diesel uptakes caught fire. The ship, which got underway May 8, reportedly ran at speeds up to 43 knots on the renewed sea trials, and Rear Adm. Jim Murdoch, the Navy’s officer in charge of the LCS program, said May 17 he was “quite pleased” with the results of the trials.

After delivery and completion this year, the Coronado is expected to arrive at its homeport of San Diego in January.

http://blogs.defensenews.com/intercepts/2013/05/new-ship-news/
 
A Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments paper on the LCS program from 2004, titled Naval Transformation and the Littoral Combat Ship.

A Febuary 2004 presentation from the same source, titled Naval Transformation and the LCS.

EDIT: A June 2003 description of the (by now infamous) Sea Swap concept: http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a430071.pdf

And finally, via the FAS, a CRS report for Congress on the LCS program, from May of this year.
 
I thought that this article was interesting. Elements in the United States Navy try to point out that the LCS is a different animal:

"NavWeek: LCS -- The Battle Within"
Posted by Michael Fabey 2:14 PM on Jun 07, 2013

Source:
http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3a9a2884d3-aad9-460d-a413-0032e701d4d9

Do not compare LCS to current platforms. It cannot be manned, trained, equipped, or maintained or tactically employed in the same way. NO OLD THINK.”

- -- 2008 U.S. Navy LCS Cardinal Rules (Emphasis in original)

The biggest impediment to the potential success of the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) may very well be some of the top-level brass who continue to view the ship through the “old-think” prism used to scrutinize traditional Navy warships.

Whether the Navy achieves operational or acquisition success with LCS remains to be seen. There is still no production-model ship at sea yet with which to gauge cost and tactical effectiveness.

But we do most definitely have a ship that is designed to be operated far differently than any other warship before it. At the high-altitude conceptual level, that is precisely what the Navy wanted.

The Navy’s desires for this different kind of warship are spelled out not only in the “Cardinal Rules,” as cited above, but also in the initial LCS concept of operations (conops), Required Operational Capabilities (Roc) And Projected Operational Environment (Poe), a list of required waivers from warship manning and other requirements, and even its damage-control manual.

I’ve reviewed all of these documents, which date back to the previous decade – as the first ships were being built – and they detail clearly just how differently the LCS vessels are meant to be operated in the Navy fleet compared to the nation’s traditional surface combatants.

Consider some more of the cardinal rules: do not covet simultaneous multi-mission capability; manpower is a constraint – view it as an aircrew (who only operate but do not maintain their aircraft); and, do not deviate and make policy decisions that don’t match capability.

The lack of the same multi-mission capability that other surface ships are known for is a biggie– most Navy warships are designed to go out and face a host of threats at any given time. That’s not the LCS role, as envisioned. And, as the LCS conops says, the ships are “not designed to operate in a high-intensity air defense environment.” Instead, as the Roc & Poe says, the ships’ “mission is to operate offensively in a high density, multi-threat littoral environment.”

There is a world of difference between a “high-intensity air-defense” scenario – the kind a destroyer or cruiser might fight in – and a “high-density, multi-threat littoral” combat zone filled with swarming speedboats, for example.

Essentially, the conops says, LCS vessels are meant to remain somewhat removed from major threats, under the protective umbrella of other ships or Navy assets, and use unmanned systems for most of the more dangerous work.

True, the Navy says it is reworking LCS conops now. But most of the revisions under consideration appear to be at a more tactical level. The overall strategic tone – that of a fast, agile, low-manned, relatively inexpensive warship meant for light engagements – seems to remain well-anchored as the program goes forward.

Manning is a particularly important issue for LCS. Indeed many of the “100s of deviations” from standard warship operating requirements identified in 2007-08 timeframe in preparation for ship deliveries’ have dealt with manning, according to Navy documents.

The LCS needs the deviations, the Navy says, because the ships simply cannot meet traditional Navy requirements for “manpower or ship design” because they are not meant nor built to do that.

The Navy also says, “Intent is to ultimately modify existing instructions and policies to account for LCS,” but the service also maintains the deviations do not represent “relaxation of standards but acknowledgement of LCS differences.” The deviations were well-vetted, the Navy says, referring to captain-level “summits” to approve the waivers.

So why is it then that recently leaked admiral reports criticize the LCS vessels on manning and survivability issues – apparently in comparison with traditional Navy warship ideals – which were the very things that were supposed to be different about LCS, according to the cardinal rules, conops, deviations and suchlike?

Well, for one thing, the admirals’ reviews are part of a very normal Navy process for scrubbing any ship or system. While many of the criticisms seem harsh, it must be remembered that other ships – including the now-beloved FFG frigates whose missions LCSs are meant to take over – suffered some of the same vilification.

“I welcome the debate,” says Admiral Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations. It is through such discussion, he says, that the Navy develops the best ships possible.

Of course, he acknowledges, he wishes it had not become such a public debate. What’s become particularly public recently is last year’s classified review by Rear Adm. Samuel Perez. Perez went aboard the LCS-1 USS Freedom last year when the ship was in San Diego. Many of his findings were reported shortly after his trip by Aviation Week in a series of reports based on interviews with crew members, program officials, sources who asked not to identified as well as on official and unofficial tours of the vessel.

While Navy officials still won’t disclose the document, they do acknowledge that Perez cited a failure to address LCS requirements, potential combat capability shortfalls, the need for a “correct” conops, and vulnerability to ships with certain anti-ship missiles – or any vessel other than small, fast boats.

Perez also questions how well the LCSs will be able to navigate in narrow waterways and tight harbors, Navy officials say, although the admiral does agree the ship has potential to be a strong Navy asset.

What needs to be remembered, says Rear Adm. Thomas Rowden, director of surface warfare, is that Perez was charged with putting the LCS through the wringer. “He was told to look hard,” Rowden says. “And he looked hard.”

And the Navy took that report to heart. The service did not simply shelve it. The conops are being revisited, at least on the tactical level. The manning levels are under review; the Freedom is now operating in Singapore with a pilot program of an additional 13 core crew members, bringing the total to 53.

But there are some things in the Perez report that will not likely result in stark changes to the LCS program. Some of the critiques appear to be based in the Navy “old-think” the LCS cardinal rules say to avoid. For example, the LCSs are designed to take on small, fast boats. That’s supposed to be the conops sweet spots for these vessels.

Perez is not the only one to question LCS vulnerability. The Pentagon’s Director of Testing and Evaluation (DOT&E) has done so in the past and another DOT&E report is expected soon.

But again, the criticisms seem to grade the LCS on the same curve as you would a traditional destroyer or cruiser – which is exactly the opposite of what the Navy concept says should be done.

Furthermore, most of the discussion seems to hinge on the design of the vessel, Rowden says, with very little attention paid to the way the Navy plans to use the LCS. There are quite a few variables, he notes, that determine how vulnerable a ship will be in any given situation.

That message needs to be circulated more – not only to the DOT&E, but also within the ranks of the Navy.

As former Navy Undersecretary Robert Work says in a recent draft white paper on LCS development for the Naval War College: “It is one thing to fight hard for the LCS program in the halls of the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, and quite another to fight hard for the ship within the fleet itself. While surface warfare officers might grudgingly accept a guided missile frigate’s less capable multi-warfare combat capabilities if forced to do so, it would take a lot to convince them that a ship only three-quarters the size of an FFG, and one so dependent on ‘the network,’ would be a wise addition to the battle force. And, in hindsight, there was never a concerted effort to sway them, one way or the other. As a result, the general lack of emphasis on socializing the LCS concept and design gradually had a pernicious influence on the fleet’s view and acceptance of the ship.”

Work points out, “Trust in the LCS concept and design remains low. The Navy needs to do a better job in explaining what it expects the ship to do, and how it fits within its planned fleet architecture.”

The Navy needs to rid the service of the “old think.” The admirals and surface warfare officers would be a good place to start.
 
"Kongsberg pushes NSM to US Navy as near-term OASuW option"
Richard Scott, Washington, DC - IHS Jane's Navy International
16 January 2013

Source:
http://www.janes.com/article/10271/kongsberg-pushes-nsm-to-us-navy-as-near-term-oasuw-option

Norway's Kongsberg Defence Systems is stepping up efforts to position its Nytt Sjomalsmissile/Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and derivative Joint Strike Missile (JSM) for nascent US Navy Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) requirements.

While the company has hitherto focused most of its efforts on JSM - an air-launched multimission precision-guided weapon designed for internal carriage on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) - it is now additionally pushing the ship-launched NSM as a near-term ship-launched OASuW option for USN surface combatants. In addition, the company has revealed studies for a vertical launch (VL) variant of JSM suitable for firing from a standard Mk 41 launcher cell.

An artist's impression of the Independence-class LCS fitted with an NSM box launcher. (Kongsberg Gruppen)
 

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"General Dynamics Completes Successful Critical Design Review for Knifefish UUV"
April 9, 2013

Source:
http://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2013/04/general-dynamics-completes-successful-critical-design-review-for-knifefish-uuv/

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has successfully completed the critical design review for Knifefish, the surface-mine countermeasure unmanned undersea vehicle (SMCM UUV), one month ahead of schedule.

The General Dynamics team will now begin the development of the system hardware and software to integrate the approved design via the fabrication of three engineering development modules. Knifefish is an essential component of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) mine countermeasure (MCM) mission package, providing U.S. Navy commanders and sailors with enhanced mine-hunting capabilities.

Expected to attain initial operational capability in 2017, Knifefish is the first heavyweight-class mainstream mine countermeasure (MCM) UUV that will address the Navy’s need to reliably detect and classify mines resting on the seafloor and buried mines in high-clutter environments and areas with potential for mine burial. Knifefish also gathers environmental data to provide intelligence support for other mine warfare systems.

Knifefish will help greatly reduce risk to Navy personnel and ships by operating in minefields as an off-board sensor, while the host ship stays outside the minefield boundaries. The modular, open Knifefish has been designed to integrate with both variants of LCS via the common LCS interface control document.

“Knifefish is designed to be compatible with an open architecture platform, ensuring that the Navy’s mission systems will keep pace with technology and continue to evolve to meet current and future mission requirements,” said Lou Von Thaer, president of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. “The ease of the ‘plug and play’ integration with ship systems and mission modules allows for platform flexibility and quick reconfiguration of the whole mission package in response to the dynamic requirements the fleet will encounter day to day.”

The U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) awarded General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems a contract to design and build Knifefish in September 2011.

The General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems team on the Knifefish program includes Bluefin Robotics (Quincy, Mass.), Ultra Electronic Ocean Systems (Braintree, Mass.), Oceaneering International, Inc. (Houston, Texas), Metron (Reston, Va.), Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University (State College, Pa.), 3 Phoenix (Hanover, Md.), General Dynamics Information Technology (Fairfax, Va.) and ASRC Research Technology Solutions (Greenbelt, Md.).
- See more at: http://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2013/04/general-dynamics-completes-successful-critical-design-review-for-knifefish-uuv/#sthash.J4LOty66.dpuf
 

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"Bluefin Completes Knifefish SMCM UUV Design Review"

Source:
http://www.bluefinrobotics.com/news-and-downloads/press/bluefin-completes-knifefish-smcm-uuv-design-review/

Quincy, MA, USA - 13 July 2012 - Bluefin Robotics, a leading provider of Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) solutions for US Navy Programs of Record announced today that the company has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review for Knifefish, the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (SMCM UUV). In November of 2011, Bluefin announced a subcontract from General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GDAIS) for the engineering and manufacturing of Knifefish - a specialized Bluefin-21 UUV. A scale model of the design was revealed at the Sea-Air-Space conference in Maryland in April 2012.

"We are pleased with Bluefin's ability to produce innovative designs for Knifefish while successfully meeting cost and schedule targets," said Harry Grant, Director of Sensors and Surveillance Business Area at GDAIS. "Bluefin continues to serve as a key contributor supporting the GDAIS Team in passing this important program milestone."



Knifefish will be a critical part of the Littoral Combat Ship Mine Warfare mission package and will provide the fleet mine warfare commander and sailors with enhanced mine-hunting capability by addressing the Navy's need to reliably detect and identify proud and buried mines in high-clutter environments.


The SMCM UUV System will include two Knifefish UUVs in addition to launch and recovery equipment, a support container, spare parts and support equipment. The UUV will feature Bluefin's field-swappable batteries, a top-of-the-line integrated navigation system, and low-noise propulsion technology. Bluefin's intuitive user software interface, the Operator Tool Suite, will also be provided for mission planning and monitoring. In addition, the vehicle will carry an advanced sonar payload provided by the GDAIS Team.

The subcontract includes an option for the production of up to five low rate initial production systems (ten UUVs) and various other options. Work will be performed in Quincy, Massachusetts.

ABOUT BLUEFIN ROBOTICS

Bluefin Robotics designs, manufactures and operates Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) systems and related technology. Founded in 1997, the company has grown to become a world leader in UUV products designed for defense, commercial, and scientific applications. Bluefin Robotics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Battelle. For more information, please call +1-617-715-7000 and ask to speak with a sales engineer, send your inquiry to sales@bluefinrobotics.com or visit www.bluefinrobotics.com.

Model of General Dynamics/Bluefin Robotics Knifefish

Source:
http://stardefense.blogspot.com/2012/07/bluefin-completes-knifefish-smcm-uuv.html
 

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Published on Jun 28, 2013

Lockheed Martin's Surface-to-Surface Missile System for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship is a fully integrated system consisting of a missile and missile modules optimized for employment from both the Freedom and Independence Class littoral combat ships.

http://youtu.be/BHlwFhMgyA0
 
As is typical with a lot of LM info, there is none.

However, since Griffin 2B is headed for LCS as an interim solution, I think this may apply to the ER version of the Griffin (20km limit).

http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2012armaments/Tuesday14016tackett.pdf

However, this is a Raytheon product so I would not be surprised to see LM come up with a JAVELIN variant to do the same thing.
 
This is very notional, but it appears they're using a Vertically-launched JAGM as the missile.
 
A vertically launched JAGM is not going to get into "long range" territory. It would have to be longer and would need a more efficient motor.
 
Well crap, Sequestration means the Blue Angels can't come to Seattle this year but they give take pretty pictures with Coronado? That's it, cancel LCS!
 
LCS 4 Acceptance Trials
 

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Sources: Pentagon Backs Cutting LCS to 24 ships

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130902/DEFREG02/309020018/Sources-Pentagon-Backs-Cutting-LCS-24-ships
 
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20131025/DEFREG02/310250015/LCS-Freedom-Sidelined-Port-Again
 
LCS-5 USS Milwaukee

;D ;D ;D
 

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http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.ie/2013/11/lcs-representing-usa-in-westpac-in-style.html
 
http://gcaptain.com/gao-report-deals-latest-blow-to-troubled-lcs-program/
 

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