The Navy’s fiscal year 2025 budget request provides more details on the newest amphibious ship it will start procuring, the Medium landing Ship (LSM).
The service plans to procure the first LSM in FY ‘25 at a cost of about $268 million. Then the plan is for another ship in FY ‘26, then two each in fiscal years 2027 through 2029, which covers the remainder of the five-year Future Years Defense Program (FYDP).
FY ‘25 budget documents estimate the single FY ‘26 ship will cost $200 million, then the pair in FY ‘27 will cost $349 million, two in FY ‘28 will be $305 million and two in FY ‘29 for $311 million.
The Marine Corps wants to ultimately get 35 LSMs in addition to the current congressionally-mandated floor of 31 traditional larger amphibious ships.
Last year, Marine Brig. Gen. Marcus Annibale, director of expeditionary warfare (OPNAV N95), said the Navy and Marine Corps agreed the first 18 ships fitting the LSM role will be LSMs, but vessels 19-35 maybe be other craft with somewhat similar capabilities (Defense Daily, Jan. 17).
The Marine Corps has been testing LSM concepts on a modified commercial Stern Landing Vessel (SLV) and Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport ships. Vessels 19-35 may be like those ships.
The newest budget documents say the Navy plans for the 10 LSM’s outside the FYDP to cost $2.4 billion and the 18 total LSMs to cost about $3.86 billion, before accounting for outfitting and post-delivery and gross/weapon system unit costs.
The LSM is primarily meant to support the Marine Littoral Regiments, serving in between larger multipurpose amphibious warfare ships and smaller landing vessels. They will transport up to 75 Marines, have 10,000 square feet of cargo space, be able to travel 3,500 nautical miles, capable of beaching, and have a bow or stern ramp to disembark expeditionary forces.
The planning documents now expect LSM to be 400 feet long with a five-foot beam and with 2,522 feet of displacement.
This is on the larger end of the original specification range of 200 to 500 feet long.
The Navy expects to award the detail design contract with the first ship (LSM-01) this month, with delivery expected in February 2029. Follow-on ships will be ordered two at a time, with deliveries expected two to three months apart.
The schedule for the follow-on ships is award LSM-02 in March 2026 for a December 2029 delivery, LSM-03 and 04 in March 2027 for March and May 2030 deliveries, LSM-05 and 06 in March 2028 for November 2030 and January 2031 deliveries, and LSM-07 and 08 ordered in March 2028 for October 2031 and January 2032 deliveries.
In January, the Navy issued an initial Request For Proposals for the detail design and construction of six LSMs (Defense Daily, Jan. 11).
Also in January, officials confirmed the Navy and Marine Corps are working with five LSM competitors, with a down-select planned.
In a May 2023 Request For Information, the Navy said it plans to ramp up LSM production to four ships per year (Defense Daily, May 23, 2023).