The U.S. Navy’s is winding down construction of its littoral combat ship fleet with the recent commissioning of USS Beloit, and just the Cleveland and LCS-2 variant Pierre left to complete. It’s been a long, hard road since the 2008 commissioning of the first LCS USS Freedom.
The Navy has worked to fix the drive train problem on the LCS-1 and cracking issues on LCS-2 type vessels. Putting too many new elements on one warship design up front is recognized as a severe impediment to passing operational testing and being built on time and on budget, and this has bedeviled the LCS. No doubt there will be those who want to keep beating the dead and rapidly decomposing horse.
The Navy originally planned two LCS variants in the 2000’s as a group of 52 modular ships supporting three interchangeable mission packages with surface, antisubmarine and mine warfare focus. The combination of too many new systems and concepts, combined with developmental delays and testing failures, caused the cost of the initial LCS units to skyrocket from the estimated $220 million per unit to over $700 million for the first LCS-2 vessel. Repeated delays and testing issues caused Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to reduce the overall LCS ship count from 52 to 40 ships. Ultimately, the Navy ordered 35 LCS vessels, and of those the service has decommissioned seven.
But with the looming prospect of war with China in the near future, it’s time to focus on what these ships can do for the Navy and Marine Corps. In every U.S. war since 1861, commanders have had an immediate need for more ships at the outset of conflict. While not a destroyer or high-end frigate, both LCS variants can serve in a variety of roles to include surface-to-surface missile shooters, low-end escorts, drone carriers and pop-up network tenders.
The Navy will need to maintain those LCS in service, avoid scrapping or retiring those in the mothball fleet and find crews to operate them in the event of conflict. LCS may not be a fan-favorite with some, but it’s likely to get popular very quickly in the event of conflict, as more ships will be needed for the many missions of a wartime Navy.
Fixing LCS problems
The Navy has fixed the LCS-1 variant combining gear problems that bedeviled earlier vessels in the class over the last three years. The Navy also fixed corrosion issues on the LCS-2 variant, while also mitigating cracking plates that limited speed at certain sea states by strengthening the hull and deck plating near the ship’s bow. More LCS maintenance has transitioned to crew rather than a contractor, which has improved the readiness of both variants.
LCS -2 units have now regularly deployed to and operated from Singapore, and LCS-1 variant Indianapolis just completed a successful deployment to the Fifth Fleet area of operations, which is the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. LCS-30 USS Canberra will also soon deploy to the Fifth Fleet as the first LCS-2 variant with the first LCS mine countermeasures (MCM) mission package. Four additional MCM-fitted LCS are headed to the Persian Gulf/Red Sea this year.
The Navy is upgrading both LCS variants with new missiles and uncrewed systems. All of these factors suggest LCS is supporting the fleet and may be ready for tasking not planned in the original concept of operations for the class. Support for Marines, shooting missiles and tending unmanned units are three such new LCS missions.
Missions for LCS
LCS was originally designed to support one of three mission packages for surface, antisubmarine and mine warfare. The surface package was generally successful, but the mine warfare version has taken much longer to develop. The Navy scrapped the antisubmarine package in 2022.
LCS has a lot of internal and external space built into its design, such as a mission bay in the LCS-2 variant of over 15,000 square feet and a large helicopter flight deck to support these mission packages. It also has containerized weapons and the Textron Aerosonde UAV systems. These same features also make LCS an ideal platform for a number of warfare and support endeavors beyond its original purpose.
Moving Marines ashore
The Marine Corps is still betting on the medium landing ship (LSM) as its preferred platform to move small numbers of Marines (70 or fewer) around forward areas for rapid deployments, but such a vessel might not survive budget cuts.
LCS cannot beach itself to offload Marines directly onto the beach as LSM can, but it does possess boat facilities and helicopter flight facilities that can move Marines ashore. LCS also has 57mm and 30mm guns and potentially missiles to provide support fires to embarked Marines. LSM would notionally be armed with only 30mm guns and only boasts 8,000 square feet of cargo space. LCS, paired with an Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), which has 20,000 square feet of mission bay, might serve in the medium landing ship role as a better-armed and more flexible Marine transport package.
Missile shooter
The Navy designed LCS to accept additional missile weapons, but experimentation over the last several years has considerably improved the armament each vessel can carry. LCS has mounted four to eight Naval Strike Missiles just forward of its superstructure since 2020.
In addition, the class has been equipped with vertical-launch Hellfire short-range weapons. The service last year test fired SM-6 missiles from a MK 70 containerized launching system. This 40-foot container has four vertical launch missile cells that support a variety of “strike length” weapons to include the Tomahawk cruise missile. While such systems do not make an LCS into a guided-missile destroyer or frigate, they represent one method of rapidly fielding missile strike capability afloat.
Tender for uncrewed platforms
The large mission bay and flight deck make LCS ideal as a tender for uncrewed vehicles from multiple domains (air, surface and subsurface.) These systems will play an increasing role in U.S. operations, and presently the Navy has no purpose-built tenders to service and repair them.
LCS might also provide pop-up network services by launching high-altitude ballons that could serve as temporary networks for forces facing satellite losses as a result of conflict. LCS was originally built around the idea of using the mission bay and rotary wing facilities as its primary capability, and uncrewed units make the most of these features.
In every conflict since the American Civil War the U.S. Navy has found itself short of vessels at the outset of conflict. The Navy ends up buying or even leasing vessels it needs, especially when the mission requirement for those ships is experimental or bespoke.
LCS has not turned out as planned in many ways and has ended up costing much more than any of the original estimates for the two variants. That said, in the event of war with China every ship will be needed, and it would be foolish to scrap any LCS; even those currently decommissioned in the reserve fleet.
As former Defense Undersecretary Bob Work said in his Naval War College essay on the history of LCS development, “The only thing standing in the way of success for LCS would be a lack of imagination and hard work…Sometimes, trusting in the innovation of sailors just works.”
The Navy can learn from the LCS debacle of the last two decades, but at the same time the ships are vital given tensions with China and the Navy can use them across multiple missions thanks to the service’s own redoubtable sailors.
