Interesting. And shows me I’m quite old. When I served, the USS Independence was an aircraft carrier.
Is there a C class ship?
It sure has a big flight deck!
May God always bless this ship and her crew!
Why wouldn’t a ship designed for close to shore work need a lot more guns. After all, land battles seem to rely on big tank guns and howiters etc. It seems the Navy has dropped cannons from almost all its designs.
Wasn’t this tried with aircraft back in the 60’s 70’s when it was thought dogfighting would only be fought with missles?
“Cool looking ship”
I disagree. It ain’t pretty, BUT, It does not have to be pretty.
Stealth has taken all the prettyness out of both ships and airplanes. Look at the B-2 bomber Vs. the B-1.
The B-1 looks like it is doing 250 MPH while parked and the B-2 looks like it is still in the packing crate.
The F-117 Vs. the F-16. The F-117 proves that a piano can fly if given enough power, while the F-16 is the perfect meld of man and machine.
A stealthy ship is a strange looking bird, but I am willing to bet that it will be above and beyond anything produced by any other country in the world.
I seem to remember Australia loaning us one of their littoral ships for evaluation a few years ago. I wonder if this ship came out of that experiment.
.....Bob
OK, I need to ask a stupid question. What is “littoral”? I’m not familiar with the term.
But aren’t they all Literal Combat Ships ?
One Phalanx defensive weapon per side, if one fails is that side unprotected? Whats plan B?
The U.S.S. Independence is the first of a projected fleet of between 50 and 100 littoral combat ships (LCSs)
The "official" number in the USN 30-year shipbuilding plan is 55. Given the cost overruns of the program, and the fact that the plan isn't remotely a achievable in the USN budget, the actual figure is going to end up being some number under 55.
The rear deck is suitable for two Seahawk helicopters, and can also support Harrier jump-jets if necessary.
There are not going to be any Harriers going anywhere near this thing.
Onboard weaponry includes a 57mm Bofors gun, four .50 caliber guns, chaff, missile and torpedo decoy launchers, an 11-missile SeaRAM launcher, 8 Harpoon surface-to-surface missiles, mine detection and towed array sonar units, and a vertical launching system for ASROC-style surface missiles or Evolved Sea Sparrow type missile defenses.
There's NO provision or intention of carrying Harpoon missiles and there's no VLS for ASROC or Evolved Sea Sparrow. There's no on-board sonars at all. All sonars, towed arrays, etc. are on unmanned boats in the ASW package.
There are, however, small VLS units for the small NLOS missile.(US Army program.)
looks way cool ... but how many skiers can it pull?
And if the crew is half-female that would make it...
Does this replace the 16” guns of the battleships?
Way cool.
The Greeks have a ship that patrols the isle of Lesbos— it’s a
(wait for it...)
Clitoral Combat Ship!
ping