Independence-class

USS Montgomery at Sea for First International Exercise Since LCS Deployments Restarted

Indonesian Navy sailors watch as the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Montgomery (LCS-8) arrives in the port of Tanjung Perak as part of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Indonesia 2019 on July 31, 2019. US Navy Photo

A Littoral Combat Ship operating in the Pacific is participating in its first international exercise since the LCS program reorganized and rebooted its deployments to Singapore.

USS Montgomery (LCS-8) is at sea for the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and...

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/05/uss-montgomery-at-sea-for-first-international-exercise-since-lcs-deployments-restarted

Lockheed Martin Won’t Submit Freedom LCS Design for FFG(X) Contest

Lockheed Martin FFG(X) design. Lockheed Martin Image

Lockheed Martin won’t submit a bid to compete in the design of the Navy’s next-generation guided-missile (FFG(X)) frigate competition, company officials told USNI News on Tuesday.

The company elected to focus on its involvement developing the frigate combat system and other systems rather than forward its Freedom-class LCS design for the detailed design and construction contract Naval Sea Systems Command plans to issue this summer, Joe...

https://news.usni.org/2019/05/28/lockheed-martin-wont-submit-freedom-lcs-design-for-ffgx-contest

Shipbuilders Studying Adding More Punch to Littoral Combat Ships

Freedom-class LCS St. Louis (LCS-19), left, in Marinette, Wisc., on Dec. 15, 2018, as Billings (LCS-15) is under construction and preparing for commissioning. US Navy Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Littoral Combat Ship builders are researching how to cram in additional lethal power into the existing Freedom- and Independence-variant ships.

Lockheed Martin and Austal USA are each conducting a two-phase look at how to upgrade the original LCS hulls, Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president of...

https://news.usni.org/2019/05/21/shipbuilders-studying-adding-more-punch-to-littoral-combat-ships

Navy Budgeting $1.3B for First FFG(X) Hull; 9 Planned Over the Next Five Years

THE PENTAGON — The Navy is budgeting $1.3 billion in Fiscal Year 2020 to purchase its first-in-class guided-missile frigate and associated engineering costs as part of an aggressive push to buy nine FFG(X) hulls by FY 2024, according to a Tuesday Navy budget overview.

The service is set to award the final design and construction contract for the frigate program in 2020, with the delivery of the first ship estimated to occur six years later, according to a draft request for proposal issued last...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/12/navy-budgeting-1-3b-first-ffgx-hull-9-planned-next-five-years

Littoral Combat Ship USS Charleston Commissions in South Carolina

Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer delivers his remarks during the commissioning ceremony of USS Charleston (LCS-18) on March 2, 2019. US Navy Photo

The Littoral Combat Ship USS Charleston (LCS-18) officially joined the fleet during a Saturday commissioning ceremony in downtown Charleston, S.C.

“USS Charleston is proof of what the teamwork of all of our people — civilian, contractor and military — can accomplish together,” Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer said in a statement. “This...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/03/uss-charleston-join-fleet-saturday-morning

Navy Issues Draft RFP for FFG(X) Next-Generation Frigate

Artist’s rendering of the Austal USA FFG(X) bid from SNA 2019. Austal USA Image

The Navy has issued a draft request for proposal to design and build its planned class of 20 next-generation guided-missile frigates (FFG(X)).

Posted late Friday, the detailed design and construction RFP draft will serve as a practice run for shipbuilders to pitch their designs for the small surface combatants that are set to follow on the two classes of Littoral Combat Ships currently in production.

The document lays...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/02/navy-issues-draft-rfp-ffgx-next-generation-frigate

Austal Expanding Involvement in LCS Program Through Maintenance Planning, Execution

The littoral combat ship USS Montgomery (LCS 8) enters dry dock for Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) at San Diego Ship Repair on May 19, 2017. PSA is designed to harness results of a thorough test and evaluation period and pave the way to operational employment by the Navy. It is the last availability in the ship construction period and required repairs identified during combat systems ship qualifications trials and final contractor trials are made using contractor and program office money. US...

https://news.usni.org/2019/02/11/austal-expanding-involvement-in-lcs-program-through-maintenance-planning-execution

LCS Mission Package Office Focused On Test, Fielding; IOC Dates Continue to Slip

The future littoral combat ship USS Wichita (LCS 13) conducts acceptance trials, which are the last significant milestone before a ship is delivered to the Navy. US Navy photo.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Littoral Combat Ship mission package program office considers itself to be out of the technology development business and fully into testing and production, the program manager said last week.

All three of the LCS mission packages are in some form of testing this fiscal year and will hit various...

https://news.usni.org/2019/01/25/lcs-mission-package-office-focused-on-test-fielding-ioc-dates-continue-to-slip

Federal Agents Comb Through Austal USA Shipyard as Part of Apparent Financial Investigation

USS Tulsa (LCS-16) launched on March 15, 2017. Austal USA photo.

This post will be updated as additional information is available.

Federal agents visited Littoral Combat Ship manufacturer Austal USA in their Mobile, Ala. shipyard as part of an unspecified investigation involving the U.S. Navy, according to local media.

“Department of Defense, NCIS and [the Defense Criminal Investigative Service] have been seen on site,” according to NBC 15 in Mobile, Ala.
“Investigators are expected to be on site...

https://news.usni.org/2019/01/24/austal-usa-part-unknown-investigation-federal-agents-comb-shipyard

Navy Squeezing Costs Out of FFG(X) Program as Requirements Solidify

Artist’s rendering of the Austal USA FFG(X) bid from SNA 2019. Austal USA Image

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy says it may have squeezed out about $150 million per hull in savings as the service closes in on final requirements for a planned class of next-generation frigates (FFG(X)), program officials said last week.

After raising eyebrows in Congress last year with an upper-end cost of about $950 million per hull for the second ship and beyond, the Navy is now saying that figure could be closer to...

https://news.usni.org/2019/01/22/navy-squeezing-costs-ffgx-program-requirements-solidify

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