The American coastal fleet will be super-fast again. Yesterday, November 20, information appeared on the website of the Naval Institute of the US Navy that the US Navy has resumed receiving Freedom-type ships.
In January of this year, the press service of the US Navy announced that a significant defect was found in the coastal warship from Lockheed Martin. The problem lies in the transmission mechanism, the bearings of which fail faster than stated by the manufacturer. Now the problem has been solved, and the supply of Freedom-type ships has continued.
High-speed tests of a Freedom-type ship
So, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul ship (LCS-21) was transferred to the fleet a year later, after it passed acceptance tests. The problematic mechanism has been replaced on it, which will allow the ship to reach speeds of up to 45 knots again (previously, the fleet limited the speed for this type to 35 knots until the problem was fixed). The same corrections will be made on all operating and under construction ships of the Freedom type.
Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) is an American program for the creation of coastal combat ships (littoral ships). As part of this program, the US Navy buys two types of ships: LCS-1 Freedom manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation and LCS-2 Independence, which are assembled by Austal USA. Both ships have similar characteristics and armament, but they differ significantly in the type of hull. By 2030, the US Navy plans to receive about sixty ships of two types for service.
The length of the ships of the LCS-1 Freedom type is 115 m, width - 17.5 m, draft - 3.7 m, displacement - 3500 tons. The ships can reach speeds of up to 45 knots (83 km/h) and stay at sea for 21 days, covering a distance of up to 6500 km. Depending on the tasks performed, the crew of each of the ships can consist of 15, 50 or 75 people. The ships of the LCS-1 Freedom type are armed with Mk 110 automatic guns of 57 mm caliber, RIM-116 anti-aircraft missiles, Mark 50 torpedoes, as well as NETFIRES PAM surface-to-surface missiles. In addition, the ships have a platform and hangar for two MH-60R/S Seahawks helicopters and a Q-8 Fire Scout drone.
