Construction contracts for four more ships were awarded in March 2012.A 10ft full load displacement draft allows the ships to access very shallow waters. In July 2008, Israel requested the foreign military sale (FMS) of up to four vessels of the LCS-1 variant.USS Freedom (LCS-1) is the first in the Lockheed Martin Freedom-class of littoral combat ships.Lockheed Martin proposed the Freedom-class of littoral combat ship based on a semi-planing mono-hull design. In March 2009, LCS-3 was announced as USS Fort Worth. USS Billings (LCS-15) was laid in November 2015 and was launched in July 2017.

The Lockheed Martin-led team was awarded a contract to build LCS 31 in January 2019.The two designs are quite different, although both satisfy the top-level performance requirements and technical requirements of the LCS programme. The USN asked to review the programme because of concerns over cost increases incurred in the construction of USS Freedom.

The Israeli Navy requirement includes the mk41 vertical-launch system for Barak missiles. The Lockheed Martin team includes Marinette Marine shipyard, Bollinger Shipyards, Gibbs and Cox naval architects, Izar of Spain, as well as Blohm and Voss naval shipbuilders.General Dynamics and Austal proposed the Independence-class of littoral combat ship, based on a trimaran hull. To date, five ships are under construction. 50-calibre machine gun mounts are installed port and starboard on the walkway on either side of the hangar and at the stern just below the level of the stern helicopter deck.Decoy systems include three Super RBOCs and two Nulka decoy launchers. It had previously been planned that orders would be placed for nine flight 1 (second-generation) LCS ships during 2008 and 2009, for ship commissioning during the period 2010 to 2012.The contract for the Coronado, LCS-4, was awarded to General Dynamics in April 2009. The keel was laid for LCS-9 in June 2013 and the ship was launched in July 2015 and commissioned in December 2017. The study concentrated on hull, mechanical and electrical system compatibility.

The crew size will be between 15 and 50 and accommodation is provided for up to 75 ship and special mission crew. Fincantieri Marine Systems North America is supplying the ride control system.The ship’s maximum speed is 45k, the overall length is 115.5m, the maximum beam width is 13.1m and the draft is 3.7m.The vessel has automated stern doors, stern ramp, side launch doors and overhead crane for the launch-and-recovery of both manned and unmanned vessels.The combat management system is the Lockheed Martin COMBATSS-21, based on open architecture. The consortium began construction on the ship in Marinette, in October 2019.In September 2018, the US Navy awarded a contract to the consortium to build PCU Beloit (LCS-29). The littoral combat ship is a fast, agile, networked surface combatant designed to operate in the near-shore environment, while capable of open-ocean tasking, and win against 21st-century coastal threats such as submarines, mines, and swarming small craft. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Jan Shultis/Released) Xavier is based in Paris, France. On 16 February 2010, the USS Freedom left the Naval Station Mayport for its maiden deployment, two years ahead of schedule.Lockheed Martin was planing to build USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), initially named USS Courage, and commission it in 2009.

They achieve sprint speeds of over 40k and long-range transit distances of more than 3,500 miles. Other Independence-class littoral combat ships were named. The shaping of the hull in both design strategies provides signature reduction, while both ships continue to evolve with changes in design proposals.In April 2005, the US Navy awarded a foreign military sales contract to Lockheed Martin to conduct a nine-month feasibility study to examine possible modifications to the Lockheed Martin LCS design to meet the requirements of the Israeli Navy.

Lockheed Martin received a contract for the first Freedom-class ship, LCS-1, in December 2004. The keel of LCS-23 was laid in August 2018. The littoral combat ship is a fast, agile, networked surface combatant designed to operate in the near-shore environment, while capable of open-ocean tasking, and win against 21st-century coastal threats such as submarines, mines, and swarming small craft.

The mk110 fires mk295 ammunition at a rate of 220 rounds a minute to a range of 14km (nine miles).General Dynamics Land was awarded a contract to provide MK 46 MOD 2 Gun Weapon Systems (GWS) for the LCS Surface Warfare Mission module and landing platform docks.The slender stabilised trimaran mono-hull proposed by the General Dynamics team has an overall length of 127.8m, a maximum beam of 28.4m and full load displacement of 2,637t.

LCS-26 was christened in December 2019.The US Navy awarded a contract to Austal USA to build PCU Savannah (LCS-28) in June 2017 and another for PCU Canberra (LCS-30) in October 2017. The keel for USS Freedom (LCS-1) was laid in June 2005 at the Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin. The keel was laid in December 2009, followed by the christening in January 2012 and the commissioning in April 2014.

The keel for Indianapolis (LCS-17) was laid in July 2016 and the ship was launched in April 2018. The keel for Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) was laid in April 2014. The semi-submersible, the AN / WLD-1 with an ASW mission system, tows a remote-towed active source (RTAS), a multiband transducer, with a remotely towed array multi-function sonar.The ASW module includes systems to be deployed from the MH-60R helicopter (mk54 torpedoes, sonobuoys, Raytheon AN / AQS-22 airborne low-frequency sonar) and unmanned surface vehicles, USVs (dipping sonar, multi-static active sonar and ULITE ultra-lightweight towed array).General Dynamics Robotics was awarded a contract for four USVs for the ASW module in October 2006.The 11m Fleet-class USV weighs 7.7t, has a payload of 2,270kg, a speed of 35k and is capable of operating continuously for more than 24 hours.The SUW module includes a General Dynamics mk46 30mm cannon (also used in the rapid airborne mine clearance system and the US Marine Corps expeditionary fighting vehicle), which fires at up to 200 rounds a minute, and a version of the US Army’s non-line of sight – precision-attack munition missile system.The NLOS launch system and precision attack missile are being jointly developed by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

She was delivered in June 2012 and commissioned in August 2012.The keels for LCS-5 (USS Milwaukee) and LCS-7 (USS Detroit) were laid in October 2011 and November 2012 respectively.

The keel-laying ceremony of LCS-11 was held in February 2014 and the ship was launched in January 2016.