Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship

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. Despite initial plans to only accept one of the Freedom and Independence variants, the USN has requested that Congress order ten ships of each variant.

Specifications

 * Type: Littoral Combat Ship (Hull designation symbol LCS)
 * Service Period: 2008-Present
 * Characteristics:
 * Length: 378 feet (115.21 meters)
 * Beam: 57 feet 4.8 inches (17.5 meters)
 * Draft: 12 feet 9.6 inches (3.9 meters)
 * Displacement: 3,307 tons (Full Load)
 * Crew: 75
 * Endurance: 21 days
 * Installed Power: 4 x Isotta Fraschini V1708 diesel engines, Hitzinger generator units, 800 kW each
 * Propulsion: 2 x Rolls-Royce MT30 36 MW gas turbines, 2 x Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, 4 x Rolls-Royce waterjets
 * Range: 3,500 nautical miles (6,482 kilometers; 4,027.73 miles) at 18 knots (33.34 km/h; 20.71 mph)
 * Speed: 47 knots (87.04 km/h; 54.09 mph)
 * Senor Suite:
 * EADS North America TRS-3D air and surface search radar
 * Lockheed Martin COMBATSS-21 combat management system
 * AN/SQR-20 Multi-Function Towed Array
 * Countermeasures:
 * Argon ST WBR-2000 ESM system
 * Terma A/S SKWS decoy system
 * Armament:
 * 1 x BAE Systems Mk.110 57mm/L70 naval gun (with 880 rounds)
 * 1 x Mk.49 Missile Launcher (fires 21 RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles)
 * 1 x AGM-176 Griffin
 * 2 x 30mm Mk.44 Bushmaster II guns
 * 4 x 12.7mm machine guns
 * Aircraft Carried: 2 x MH-60R Seahawk, 1 x MQ-8 Fire Scout

Unit Run

 * USS Freedom (LCS-01)
 * USS Fort Worth (LCS-03)
 * USS Milwaukee (LCS-05)
 * USS Detroit (LCS-07)
 * USS Little Rock (LCS-09)
 * USS Sioux City (LCS-11)
 * USS Wichita (LCS-13)
 * USS Billings (LCS-15)
 * USS Indianapolis (LCS-17)