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 sixty-four vessels.

As of 2016, five ships are active and an additional nine are either on order, under construction or fitting out. Starting in 2019, ships of this class will be designated as fast frigates (FF) which will include increased firepower and heavier armor.

In 2016, the USN began the FFG(X) program to built a frigate to complement the littoral combat ships.

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 - TRS-4D from USS Indianapolis (LCS-17) onwards
 * 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 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk maritime helicopters and 1 x Northrop Grumman MQ-8A/B/MQ-8C Fire Scout UAV

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) - sea trials
 * USS Indianapolis (LCS-17) - fitting out
 * USS St. Louis (LCS-19) - fitting out
 * USS Minneapolis/St. Paul (LCS-21) - fitting out
 * USS Cooperstown (LCS-23) - under construction
 * USS Marinette (LCS-25) - under construction
 * USS Nantucket (LCS-27) - planned for construction
 * USS Beloit (LCS-29) - planned for construction
 * USS Cleveland (LCS-31) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-33) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-35) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-37) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-39) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-41) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-43) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-45) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-47) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-49) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-51) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-53) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-55) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-57) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-59) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-61) - planned for construction
 * USS Unnamed (LCS-63) - planned for construction