POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

LCS trials are speeding along…

LCS 2 underway during builders trials in the Gulf of Mexico

 

 

 

 

 

 

In recent sea trials prototypes of the Navy’s newest surface vessel concept, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), have performed very well, one variant maintaining speeds in excess of 40 knots for more than 4 hours.  I don’t think that a majority of the available ski-boats could match that.

 

 

 

Independence, a 418-foot warship built in Alabama, boasts a top speed in excess of 45 knots, or about 52 mph, and sustained 44 knots for four hours during builder trials that wrapped up this month off the Gulf Coast. The 378-foot Freedom, a ship built in Wisconsin by a competing defense contractor, has put up similar numbers.

Independence is an aluminum, tri-hulled warship built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. The lead contractor is Maine's Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics.  Lockheed Martin Corp. is leading the team that built Freedom in Marinette, Wis. It looks more like a conventional warship, with a single hull made of steel.

Both ships are built to accommodate helicopters and mission "modules" for either anti-submarine missions, mine removal or traditional surface warfare. The modules are designed to be swapped out within 24 hours, allowing the ships to adapt quickly to new missions.

 

I’d like to first state that while there are faster surface ships in the Navy, to say that something that large moving at 45 knots is impressive is an understatement.  And I’m sure that both entrant’s prototypes have their respective strengths and weaknesses.  From an engineering perspective, I am intrigued by the tri-hull of the Austal entrant.  But, I am definitely skeptical of the aluminum construction.  Aluminum has a much lower melting point than steel, and in the 1980’s Falkland’s war some British warships were irrevocably damaged due to the aluminum degrading, and in some cases actually burning, as a result of on board fires following Exocet missile hits.  Still, there are those that know better of this than I, and I must trust them to take whatever decision is in the best interests of our sailors and our nation.  And while I’d prefer that LMC not receive yet another DOD contract, that decision too is above my pay grade.

UPDATE: Many thanks to Moe Lane for the hat tip at his site.

(H/T "Hap Smithers" in the comments)

Rocketman