TSAMTO, May 25. The US Navy Command announced the commissioning ceremony of the LCS-26 "Mobile" - class coastal warship "Independence", which took place on May 22 in Mobile, Alabama.
LCS-26 "Mobile" is the 13th coastal warship of the Independence class. The ceremony of cutting the first sheets of aluminum for the construction of LCS-26 took place on December 12, 2017, the keel laying took place on December 14, 2018, and the baptism took place on December 7, 2019. The ship was handed over to the US Navy on December 9, 2020 after successfully completing tests in October. LCS-26 will be located at the Naval base San Diego (California).
As reported by TSAMTO, the construction of the LCS ships is carried out by two main contractors, Lockheed Martin and Austal USA, on alternative projects. The lead ship of the series, LCS-2 Independence, built by a consortium that includes Austal USA, was commissioned into the US Navy on January 16, 2010.
Earlier, Austal USA transferred 12 ships of the coastal zone to the US Navy. Now at the company's facility in Mobile (Alabama), several more ships of the series are in various stages of construction: LCS-28 "Savannah", LCS-30" Canberra", LCS-32" Santa Barbara "and LCS-34"Augusta". Contracts were signed for the construction of LSC-36 "Kingsville" and LSC-38 "Pyrrhus".
LCS is a new generation of US Navy surface warships that are capable of performing a wide range of combat missions both on the high seas and in the coastal zone. Among the main functions of the ships: patrolling, combating enemy surface ships and submarines, protecting the fleet from attacks by small surface vessels, ensuring maritime security, mine warfare, conducting reconnaissance, supporting the actions of special operations forces.
The Independence-class ship is an aluminum trimaran with a length of 127.1 m, a width of 31.4 m and a displacement of 3104 tons. The ship is equipped with two GE LM2500 GTD, two MTU 20V 8000 diesel engines and develops a maximum speed of 47 knots (87 km / h), a cruising range of 4,000 nautical miles (8000 km) at a speed of 14 knots. The ship is armed with one 57-mm Mk.110 artillery mount, four 12.7-mm machine guns, and an 11-container ESSM missile launcher. On board there is a helipad and a hangar equipped to accommodate two MH-60R/S Seahawk helicopters and one MQ-8 Fire Scout UAV.