The Navy is in the process of setting up a program office to design and buy the small surface combatants that are planned to follow the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) currently in procurement, the service’s acquisition chief said Wednesday.
Sean Stackley, the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, told reporters after an address at the Atlantic Council that there was not yet an established timeframe for standing up the office but doing so was a “high priority.”
The program office for the new small surface combatants, also referred to as the modified LCS, will, however, fall under the LCS program executive office (PEO LCS) in Naval Sea Systems Command, Stackley said.
The Navy announced plans in December for the modified LCSs after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the service in February 2014 to come up with something better–more lethal and survivable–than the current ones.
In doing so, Hagel cut the Navy’s plans to buy 52 LCS to 32, leaving 20 more hulls needed to meet the small surface combatant requirement. Hagel signed off on the Navy’s plan last month to fill the need with modified versions of the LCS to boost firepower and increase the strength and capabilities of the ships.
Lockheed Martin [LMT], along with partner Marinette Marine, builds the monohull Freedom variant of the ship class, while Austal USA is constructing the trimaran Independence variant. Twenty four of the vessels are either under contract or delivered, evenly split between the two lead contractors.
Stackley said now that the Navy has conceptualized the modified versions of the LCSs, the next step is developing requirement specifications for review. Stackley has previously said the Navy intends to maintain a competitive environment between the two builders going forward. He said Wednesday the Navy was still looking at how to set up the acquisition strategy.
“We’re working the details,” he said.
Key aspects of the modified LCSs will be an over-the-horizon missile absent on the current ones, and adding a multi-function towed array for submarine hunting. The Navy wants to add 25mm guns and torpedo defense, increased electronic warfare capabilities, and better air radar and decoy systems.
In December, Stackley told reporters that the service will determine which components to compete on a “case-by-case” basis, and in some instances may opt for sole sourcing when it has identified a system it wants.
Stackley also said Wednesday the Navy has so far not formalized a name for the new, modified versions of the LCS.
“There is discussion ongoing in terms of what we’re going to call the nomenclature…and I don’t want to get ahead of that,” he said.