USS Freedom becomes first LCS to reach 7th Fleet's Pacific turf

[Recursion]

Source: Stars and Stripes

The USS Freedom has arrived in the 7th Fleet’s area of responsibility, marking a major milestone for the Navy’s beleaguered littoral combat ship program.

The Navy’s first LCS is transiting the Pacific toward Guam and its inaugural 7th Fleet port visit before heading to Singapore, where it will participate in the International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference and spend eight months conducting maritime security operations, according to a 7th Fleet statement.

“As the U.S. Navy supports the U.S. government rebalance to the Indo-Asia-Pacific, there is no better place to demonstrate LCS capabilities than in the 7th Fleet AOR,” 7th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Scott Swift said in the statement. “Freedom’s deployment to Southeast Asia is a tremendous opportunity to bring our newest capability forward to conduct maritime security operations, port visits and exercises with our allies, partners and friends alongside other 7th Fleet units.”

Few believed the program — billed as the future of an ever-changing coastal surface-warfare landscape — would ever get off the ground, never mind deploy to such an important strategic region after years of cost overruns and structural deficiencies highlighted by hull cracks, corrosion and system failures.

Read more: http://www.stripes.com/uss-freedom-becomes-first-lcs-to-reach-7th-fleet-s-pacific-turf-1.212658

---

You're probably familiar with the fiasco that is the F-35, a badly-implemented airplane that nobody wants. This is in some ways actually more frustrating: a badly-implemented ship that the Navy very much wants and needs.

[hobbit709]

1. Why Guam, It's not like there's a lot of littoral there.

[hack89]

2. To refuel on the way to Singapore

it will be doing anti-piracy exercises with the Singaporean and Malaysian navies in the Straits of Malacca.

[HereSince1628]

3. Don't worry by the time they get to LCS-10 they'll have figured out

Last edited Thu Mar 21, 2013, 09:27 AM - Edit history (1)

The hull won't have a tendency to crack and flood.
and even if it does the redesigned hull will be able to 'sink slow' without LCS-1 added outboard floatation tanks,
the targeting radar won't interfere with the navigation-radar,
they won't have to slow down to produce acceptably accurate machine gun fire,
and the Navy might even have a helicopter available for the ship that can actually tow its anti-mine/anti-submarine equipment.

The best news could be that by then the Somali pirates who she has been suggested to fight will have retired due to old age.

[ManiacJoe]

4. For those of us not knowing what an LCS is...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littoral_combat_ship

[Recursion]

5. Thanks.

Sometimes when you care about a program you forget 99% of people have no idea what it is.

[Kolesar]

9. Little Crappy Ship ... eom

[unionthug777]

6. i have

a chance to help build these ships !!! hopefully start next monday, or the following.

[Recursion]

7. Welcome to NAVSEA!

I did some very minor circuitry work on them. The concept is beautiful. The implementation... Well, you'll see.

[unionthug777]

8. hope to see

soon !!!!!! hate being laid-off !!!