TSAMTO, August 9. At the Fincantieri Marinette Marine company in Marinette (pc.Wisconsin) On August 7, the christening ceremony of the LCS-27 Nantucket coastal warship of the Freedom class, intended for the US Navy, took place.
The LCS-27 Nantucket will be the 14th Freedom-class ship built by a consortium that includes Lockheed Martin, Fincantieri Marinette Marine, designer Gibbs & Cox, as well as about 800 other subcontractors in 42 states. The contract for the construction of the ship was signed in October 2017. The LCS-27 keel laying ceremony took place on October 9, 2019.
As reported by TSAMTO, the construction of LCS ships is carried out by two main contractors, Lockheed Martin and Austal USA, on alternative projects. To date, the Lockheed Martin-led consortium has transferred 11 Freedom-class ships to the US Navy. The last one on February 6, 2020, the LCS-19 "St. Louis"was transferred to the US Navy command.
Currently, several more Freedom-class ships are at various stages of construction, including Minneapolis/Saint Paul (LCS-21), Cooperstown (LCS-23), Marinette (LCS-25), Nantucket (LCS-27), Beloit (LCS-29), Cleveland (LCS-31).
LCS is a new generation of surface combat ships of the US Navy, which are capable of performing a wide range of combat tasks both on the high seas and in the coastal zone. Among the main functions of the ships are: patrolling, combating enemy surface ships and submarines, protecting the fleet from attacks by small surface vessels, mine warfare, conducting reconnaissance, supporting the actions of special operations forces.
"Freedom" is a steel ship with a length of 118.1 m, a width of 17.6 m and a total displacement of 3450 tons, equipped with an aluminum superstructure. The combined power plant allows you to reach a speed of more than 40 knots, a cruising range of 4,500 nautical miles. The ship is equipped with an automated combat control system COMBATSS-21, developed using the algorithms of the Aegis weapon control system, TRS-4D radar. It is characterized by a high level of automation, armed with the SeaRAM SAM and the 57-mm Mk.110 AU, which has a rate of fire of 220 rounds / min. The ship is easily reconfigurable and can be equipped with a Hellfire Longbow ATGM, 30-mm guns, manned and unmanned vehicles. Two MH-60 helicopters can be placed on board, or one MH-60 helicopter and one MQ-8 UAV.
