US Navy Eyes More Combat Upgrades for Littoral Combat Ships

Shipbuilders are studying how to add additional combat power to the United States Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).

Senior executives from Lockheed Martin, builder of the Freedom variant LCS told USNI News that they have been working since 2017 on a two-phase plan to add greater “lethality” to the two LCS designs – the Independence-class, a traditional mono-hull built by Austal USA, and the trimaran-hulled Freedom-class.

The first phase is adding the Naval Strike Missile, a subsonic anti-ship missile with a 100 nautical mile range, the Nulka decoy system help defend against advanced adversary anti-ship missiles, an improved electronic warfare suite, upgraded fire control systems for the ship’s 57 millimeter main gun, and possible radar upgrades. The second phase is examining adding laser systems and vertical launch systems that could fire a range of weapons. Both an eight-cell vertical launch system and single-cell bolt-on systems are under consideration.