The U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship Is No ‘Piece of Junk’

Key Factors: The U.S. Navy’s Littoral Fight Ship (LCS) has confronted important criticism for its restricted survivability in main maritime warfare.

-Nonetheless, it has demonstrated worth in particular roles like coastal surveillance, small-boat protection, and counter-mine operations.

-Whereas its fleet dimension was decreased resulting from functionality issues, latest deployments, equivalent to that of USS Indianapolis within the Center East, spotlight its operational utility in lower-tier missions and contested waterways.

-Upgrades, together with new missile launchers and over-the-horizon missiles, purpose to reinforce its lethality and strategic relevance, aligning the platform with evolving Navy necessities.

Littoral Fight Ship: A Redeemed Position in Fashionable Naval Warfare?

The US Navy’s Littoral Fight Ship could certainly be one of the vital criticized vessels of all time because it has been derided within the final decade, modified to a big extent, and basically “changed” to a sure diploma by extra closely armed Constellation-class Frigates. 

How so?

The Navy first meant to construct a 52-ship fleet of LCS vessels greater than 10 years in the past. But, widespread criticism about its incapacity to outlive open, blue-water near-peer maritime warfare led former Protection Secretary Chuck Hagel to scale back the scale of the Navy’s LCS fleet massively.  

The principal concern, amongst many issues, was that the Ideas of Operation had been first established throughout years of ongoing counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, the place there was a transparent want for a ship just like the LCS.  

The competition was that the ship was too thinly skinned and poorly armed to function in any important maritime warfare surroundings. Like, say, in a conflict with Russia or China. 

Nonetheless, in an surroundings not contested by nice energy Navies, the LCS can conduct coastal surveillance, small-boat protection, and even some land assaults. 

At one level years in the past, the US Navy experimented efficiently with the LCS’ potential to trace and destroy swarming small boats utilizing deck-mounted weapons. 

Ineffective Littoral Fight Ship? 

Due to this fact, is the ship ineffective? 

Clearly not, as its fight efficiency has, to a sure diploma, aligned with the service’s preliminary imaginative and prescient for the ship.

 As a shallow-water counter-mine, floor warfare submarine searching coastal vessel, the LCS has been capable of conduct fight missions in areas inaccessible to deeper draft ships. 

Additionally, as a part of its added worth, the LCS can add important worth to maritime fight operations with out itself attacking or being fired upon. 

LCS Center-East Deployment

This dynamic was just lately recognized in an attention-grabbing US Navy essay in regards to the homecoming of the usIndianapolis, a Freedom-class variant of the LCS just lately deployed within the Center East. 

The service essay defined how the LCS proved vital in stopping Houthi assaults by performing combat-critical diplomatic, logistical, communications, and navigational features. 

“Because the workhorse of the Arabian Gulf, Indy executed the decrease tier missions essential to sustaining good diplomatic relations within the Center East which allowed Commonplace Missile shooters to reposition to take care of unhealthy actors within the Pink Sea. I believe it’s fairly particular that we had been capable of present the fifth Fleet commander with extra instruments and choices to help within the free stream of commerce by way of a contested waterway,” Cmdr. Matthew Arndt, USS Indianapolis’ Commanding Officer, mentioned within the Navy essay.

LCS Advocates Defend Ship

Proponents of the LCS have lengthy maintained that the ship’s 40-knot pace is survivability-enhancing and that its interchangeable “mission packages” of assorted built-in suites add substantial mission-specific worth. 

PHILIPPINE SEA (June 13, 2021) The Independence-variant littoral fight ship USS Tulsa (LCS 16) conducts routine operations within the Philippine Sea. Tulsa, a part of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7, is on a rotational deployment working within the U.S. seventh fleet space of operations to reinforce interoperability with companions and function a ready-response power in assist of a free and open Indo-Pacific area. (U.S. Navy picture by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Colby A. Mothershead)

For a few years, weapons and applied sciences have been tailored and upgraded to strengthen their anti-submarine, surface-warfare, and countermine mission capacities.

Particularly, newer LCS ships are armed with longer-range over-the-horizon missiles, an elevated potential to function drones, and strengthened weapons methods. 

This latest deployment, whereby the LCS demonstrated operational worth, could impression the general equation relating to Navy plans for the fleet. 

“This deployment clearly marks a major chapter within the ship’s historical past and serves as proof the LCS class is able to fulfilling operational and strategic objectives throughout all theaters of operations. This validated the littoral fight ship idea each operationally and thru administrative successes,” Cmdr. William Inexperienced, USS Indianapolis’ Govt Officer, mentioned in a Navy essay.

This present evaluation of the LCS was just lately validated by US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, who defined that the ship is now receiving a brand new technology of lethality upgrades, together with weapons and new missile launchers able to launching main warship weapons such because the SM-6. 

Concerning the Writer: 

Kris Osborn is the Navy Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Middle for Navy Modernization. Osborn beforehand served on the Pentagon as a extremely certified professional within the Workplace of the Assistant Secretary of the Military—Acquisition, Logistics & Expertise. Osborn has additionally labored as an anchor and on-air army specialist at nationwide TV networks. He has appeared as a visitor army professional on Fox Information, MSNBC, The Navy Channel, and The Historical past Channel. He additionally has a Masters Diploma in Comparative Literature from Columbia College.