Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), Marinette, Wis., recently delivered the 387.6'x57.7' littoral combat ship (LCS) 11, the Sioux City , and LCS 13, the Wichita, to the Navy.
With a draft of 14.1' and a 40-plus knot speed, Sioux City is the sixth Freedom-variant LCS designed and built by the Lockheed Martin-led industry team. It will be commissioned at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Nov. 17, the first combat ship ever commissioned at the Naval Academy. The vessel completed sea trials on Lake Michigan on May 24. The trials included surface and air detect-to-engage demonstrations of the ship’s combat system. Major systems and features were demonstrated, including aviation support, small boat launch handling and recovery and ride control. LCS 13 went through acceptance trials earlier this summer and will be commissioned this winter.
LCS 11 and LCS 13 will be homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., alongside Milwaukee (LCS 5), Detroit (LCS 7) and Little Rock (LCS 9). With the deliveries, Team Freedom has delivered seven LCSes to the Navy. Currently, seven ships are in various stages of production and test at Marinette Marine.
Lockheed Martin's Freedom-variant LCS is designed to be a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship, with support focused-missions in the areas of mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare. The Freedom-variant LCS integrates new technology and capability to affordably support current and future mission capability from deepwater to the littorals.
