Ports fully equipped to swap out the Littoral Combat Ship’s (LCS) mission modules are capable of meeting the goal of completing the task within four days, but some recent war games have shown that it could take longer if the proper logistics are not in place, the Navy’s Surface Forces and Pacific Fleet Naval Surface Forces commander said this week.
Vice Adm. Thomas Copeman told reporters on a conference call Tuesday there are a “couple of caveats” with the 96-hour swap time threshold that can extend the time if the manpower or the mission modules are not fully in place at the docking port.
“Obviously, it would take longer than 96 hours, which is the goal,” Copeman said. He added that logistics are critical to any Navy operation to support any type of vessel class. “Logistics is important and it can’t be ignored.”
“We gave it a close look at the LCS, and again we think we can meet the time requirement if the port is adequate to support what we need,” Copeman said.
The LCS’s modular design is meant to allow the Navy to package it with three different mission packages depending on the operational requirement: anti-surface warfare (ASUW), mine countermeasures (MCM) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). Initial operational capability (IOC) for the MCM and ASUW packages is scheduled for 2014, with ASW set to hit IOC in 2017.
The USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), the third ship of the class, has departed for its eventual arrival in San Diego this winter after it stops off in Galveston, Texas for its commissioning ceremony next month. Once it arrives, LCS-3 will be primarily used for operational evaluation of the ASUW package, Copeman said.
The Fort Worth is the second of the Freedom variant of the LCS and is built by the partnership of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Marinette Marine. The USS Freedom (LCS-1) is scheduled to head to Singapore for eight months next spring in the first major deployment abroad of the ship. The Navy will use the deployment to study manning and operational issues.
The USS Independence (LCS-2), which recently joined the Freedom in San Diego, has been used by the Navy to evaluate the MCM package. The Independence variant is being built by Austal USA.