Littoral Combat Ship - Freedom/Independence

LCS was a train wreck from the start, honestly. Trying to take a dubious RMA concept (Art Cebrowski's Streetfighter) and find some way to operationalize it to fill actual mission shortfalls. There were two critical failure points -- the insistence on high speed without a fully worked justification, and the reliance on mission modules that were never adequately thought out or funded. And because of how Rumsfeld's OSD worked, it all had to be down at accelerated pace without time to actually study the idea properly.
 
It seems the LCS-2 class is a much better ship than the LCS-1 and seems to be more versatile as well. The LCS-2 class has had some issues but nothing like the LCS-1 class.
 
It seems the LCS-2 class is a much better ship than the LCS-1 and seems to be more versatile as well. The LCS-2 class has had some issues but nothing like the LCS-1 class.
There are structural durability concerns with the all-Aluminum Independence class and their boat/drone launch and recovery system is more of a pain than it should be. But yes it definitely seems to outperform the Freedom class.
 
The Airborne Laser Mine Detection System is part of the Mine Warfare package for the LCS. The RAMICS supercavitating gun was originally going to be used as a means to destroy mines after they had been mapped. This video from NAMMO may be related to development testing of the supercavitating rounds.

Old ALMDS and RAMICS video from Northrop
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1gQuW5VBos


NAMMO supercavitating round test video. Video Description:
Nammo’s 30 mm Swimmer (APFSDS-T MK 258 Mod 1) swims straight through water, thanks to a groundbreaking design on the supercavitating projectile developed in cooperation with the US Navy. This video is the first time we are able to show the performance of the ammunition in public. (Note: video has no audio)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlAVXMaRl7w
This May 12, 2023 article https://news.usni.org/2023/05/12/navy-talks-details-on-lcs-mine-countermeaures-mission-package states "After several years of delays, the Navy’s mine countermeasures mission package for the Littoral Combat Ship has finally reached its initial operating capability.

Last year, the Navy tested the mission package and its systems aboard Independence-class LCS USS Cincinnati (LCS-20), leading the service to announce last week that the MCM mission package achieved the IOC milestone.

The mission package includes unmanned aviation and surface systems, like the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) and the Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS) for aviation."
 
This May 12, 2023 article https://news.usni.org/2023/05/12/navy-talks-details-on-lcs-mine-countermeaures-mission-package states "After several years of delays, the Navy’s mine countermeasures mission package for the Littoral Combat Ship has finally reached its initial operating capability.

Last year, the Navy tested the mission package and its systems aboard Independence-class LCS USS Cincinnati (LCS-20), leading the service to announce last week that the MCM mission package achieved the IOC milestone.

The mission package includes unmanned aviation and surface systems, like the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) and the Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS) for aviation."

JFC, these systems were supposedly almost ready for service when I worked for OPNAV N952* (Mine Warfare) more than 20 years ago.

* So long ago that it was actually N852 when I worked there...
 
Interesting. I assume that the recommended abolishment of CAPE is due to lack of accuracy in related LCS data collection and cost estimates. Poor performance there is bound to slosh back onto the current Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. Small wonder that no-one wanted that USD(A&S) gig for most of Biden's term.
 
Interesting, I was thinking Mexico would be the obvious choice to buy these and the article mentions Mexico is interested. The two Independence class LCS would be perfect replacements for the two Sa'ar 4.5 class missile boats Mexico currently has, the LCS would work great in the Gulf and Caribbean.
 
 
You're think the appropriate response to a gentle ramming (which didn't actually happen, BTW) is to kill the bridge crew of an opposing ship, and you accuse someone else of being a drama queen??? ???

Here's a sense of perspective for you. When USS Carron got "rammed" (shouldered) by a Societ ship in the Black Sea back in 1988, her CO didn't shoot up the Soviet ship or even aim his weapons at them; he called away a bosun's party and put them over the side to paint over the scratches, while still steaming along in the Black Sea with the Soviet Navy in company. Because that's what professionals do -- they get on with the mission without escalating an incident into a shooting conflict.
They also welded enough steel to the hull that the next game of bumper boats was going to put holes in the Soviet ship.
 
Originally spotted over at MilitaryPhotos.net:
Special Report: Littoral Warfare (DefenseNews)

bilde

[IMAGE CREDIT: US Navy/DefenseNews]

EDIT: The image link has been restored, but once bitten, twice shy!​
That camo also hides the smoke marks on the hull from the diesel generators, that for some reason don't get exhausted out the stacks...
 
JFC, these systems were supposedly almost ready for service when I worked for OPNAV N952* (Mine Warfare) more than 20 years ago.

* So long ago that it was actually N852 when I worked there...
26 years ago I started working at Arete' Associates on the laser and receiver technologies that eventually went into ALMDS. I concur that it has been a long time.
 
This May 12, 2023 article https://news.usni.org/2023/05/12/navy-talks-details-on-lcs-mine-countermeaures-mission-package states "After several years of delays, the Navy’s mine countermeasures mission package for the Littoral Combat Ship has finally reached its initial operating capability.

Last year, the Navy tested the mission package and its systems aboard Independence-class LCS USS Cincinnati (LCS-20), leading the service to announce last week that the MCM mission package achieved the IOC milestone.

The mission package includes unmanned aviation and surface systems, like the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) and the Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS) for aviation."
MCM package is IOC, sure but I should always note that RAMICS and OASIS, two of the AMCM componetns that were meant for highspeed mine hunting were shelved, which means AMCM lost quite a significant portion of its highspeed shallow-to-medium depth mine clearing capabilities It's a shame, though fortunately they're adding new AMCM capabilities like Barracuda that wasn't part of the AMCM program when it was first incepted, alongside various other UUV/USV mine hunting capabilities, so transition from legacy mine sweepers/hunters to LCS (Independence would be done, sooner or later)
 

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