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The U.S. Navy's close-lipped effort to pick a winning design for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program is generating more rumors than Lindsay Lohan's love-life. Maybe it's the approaching mid-term elections or maybe it's the lack of official information about how the selection process is progressing, but interested parties seem to be working overtime to formulate fanciful conspiracy theories about what's going on. The competition pits two second-tier shipyards teamed with giant defense contractors against each other for the right to produce dozens of unconventional warships that are the only new class of surface combatants to survive recent course changes...

At last week’s Navy League expo, Lockheed Martin’s Paul Lemmo told DoD Buzz he thinks the decision on which of the two Littoral Combat Ship offerings will win the Navy’s down select this summer, his company’s steel mono-hull or General Dynamics’ all aluminum trimaran, is an easy one. Lockheed Martin’s steel mono-hull LCS can be built in most any shipyard and, more importantly, it can put in for repairs at many more dry-docks than can GD’s trimaran. How many more? There are roughly 10 dry-docks in the Norfolk area, Lemmo said, only two of which could fit the trimaran. Lockheed’s...

month into a maiden voyage that has seen a trio of drug-smuggling attempts thwarted, the commander aboard the Navy’s first littoral combat ship today described the vessel’s performance to date as “exceptional.” Now floating off the coast of Colombia, the USS Freedom received high marks from Navy Cmdr. Randy Gardner, who delivered an assessment to reporters today from aboard the ship via telephone. “The performance of the ship so far has been exceptional,” he said of the Freedom, which set sail Feb. 16 from Mayport, Fla. “We are learning a lot about what Freedom can do well.” Freedom and its...

The Navy’s first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 1) has been quick out of the slips to score some major public relations points by seizing a few tons of cocaine on its first operational deployment in the Caribbean. The new fast, maneuverable LCS will excel at such peacetime operations, often called “Phase O,” writes the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment’s Martin Murphy, in a new white paper (.pdf). Murphy has done some impressive work on the policy challenges of piracy and insurgents operating in littoral waters. In this paper, he turns his analytical focus towards one of the Navy’s highest...

The US Navy's first "Littoral Combat Ship" (LCS), the USS Freedom (LCS 1), has entered service in the Caribbean, joining the U.S. Navy drug interdiction patrol. Operating out of a base (Mayport) near Jacksonville, Florida, the Freedom headed south on February 15th, and on the 22nd intercepted its first drug smuggling boat off the Colombian coast, recovering a quarter ton of cocaine. The LCS was built for this kind of coastal operations. The USS Freedom completed its sea trials and acceptance inspections during August, 2008. The ship did very well, with far fewer (about 90 percent fewer) problems (or "material...

The stakes could not be higher. When the Navy later this year picks a winner to build its littoral combat ship, no matter which contractor is selected, the decision will be seen as a turning point for the troubled program. For the Navy, it will be a chance to prove it can acquire relatively affordable ships. When LCS was first conceived earlier this decade, it was supposed to cost $220 million, but the price tag eventually more than doubled. Now, with a new acquisition strategy, Navy officials are hopeful that they can carry the program through, and procure 66 ships...

The nation's first Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom (LCS 1), departed from Naval Station Mayport, FL, today for its maiden deployment, approximately two years ahead of schedule. The agile 378-foot USS Freedom, designed and built by a Lockheed Martin the Southern Command area of responsibility. "We congratulate the USS Freedom and her crew on their maiden deployment as this new class of Littoral Combat Ships begins to fulfill important global security missions," said Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO Bob Stevens. Â "Her quality and proven performance enabled Freedom's deployment two years ahead of schedule, a significant accomplishment in naval shipbuilding....

The littoral combat ship USS Freedom will depart from Mayport Feb. 16 for its maiden deployment to the Southern Command and Pacific Command areas of responsibility. Freedom will deploy to the waters surrounding Latin America to conduct counter-illicit trafficking operations and theater security cooperation activities while en route to its new homeport of San Diego, Calif. The ship will embark Detachment 2 from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 in Norfolk, Va.; the first tailored LCS Surface Warfare Mission Package from San Diego; and U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 704 from Miami to meet these mission requirements. "This deployment comes...

USS Freedom (LCS 1), the Navy's first littoral combat ship, is underway off the coast of Florida for final training and certification prior to its maiden deployment to the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) region. Counter-illicit trafficking (CIT), damage control, and systems training began soon after Freedom's arrival at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., on Jan. 25. "This training is extremely important for Freedom and will help us prepare for the CIT mission we expect to perform while in the 4th Fleet area of operations," said Lt. Cmdr. Mark West of Imperial Beach, Calif., operations officer for the Gold Crew, one of...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy announced Dec. 2 that USS Freedom (LCS 1), the first littoral combat ship of the LCS 1 class, will be homeported at Naval Station San Diego, Calif. Freedom is expected to be delivered to the Navy in December 2006 and arrive in San Diego in early 2007. Freedom-class ships are designed to counter challenging shallow-water threats in coastal regions, specifically mines, diesel submarines and fast surface craft. A fast, agile, and high-tech surface combatant, they will utilize mission-focused packages that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles to execute a variety of missions. On May 27,...