Future USS St. Louis completes acceptance trials, begins preparations for delivery

Future Freedom-variant littoral combat ship  USS St. Louis (LCS 19) successfully completed its acceptance trials in Lake Michigan, according to Lockheed Martin news release.

Now that trials are complete, the ship will undergo final outfitting and fine-tuning before delivery. LCS 19 is the tenth Freedom-variant LCS designed and built by the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)-led industry team and is slated for delivery to the Navy early next year.

“The LCS fleet is growing in numbers and capability, and LCS 19’s completion of acceptance trials means the Navy will shortly have 10 Freedom-variant fast, focused-mission ships in the fleet,” said Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager, Small Combatants and Ship Systems. “As each Freedom-variant hull deploys, we seek out and incorporate fleet feedback and lessons learned to roll in capabilities for new hulls. As a result, LCS 19 includes a solid-state radar, upgraded communications suite, increased self-defense capabilities and topside optimization, among other updates.”

The LCS is designed to defeat littoral threats, and provide access and dominance in coastal waters. A fast, agile surface combatant, LCS provides warfighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute focused missions close to the shore, such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and surface warfare.

St. Louis built with modular design incorporating mission packages that can be changed out quickly as combat needs demand. These mission packages are supported by detachments that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles, and sensors in support of mine, undersea and surface warfare missions.

The ship is 388 feet long, have a waterline beam length of 58 feet and make speeds in excess of 40 knots.

“Progress on the Freedom-variant program and LCS 19’s achievement would not be possible without the expertise and effort of our shipbuilders at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, and our strong partnership with Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy,” said Jan Allman, Fincantieri Marinette Marine president and CEO. “We are dedicated to delivering an effective, capable product to our armed forces.” 

LCS 19 Acceptance Trials B-roll Package from Team Freedom on Vimeo.