The future USS Kansas City (LCS-22) successfully concluded acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico after a series of in-port and underway demonstrations, the U.S. Navy announced October 31.
«This level of performance is among the best I’ve seen for this class. We continue to see improvements in cost, initial quality and schedule, ship after ship», said Captain Mike Taylor, Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program manager.
Acceptance trials are the last significant milestone before the ship’s planned delivery to the Navy in early December. During trials, the Navy conducted comprehensive tests of LCS 22’s systems, which spanned multiple functional areas essential to a ship being able to perform at sea – main propulsion, auxiliaries and electrical systems. The ship also performed demonstrations of its capability, including a full-power demonstration, steering and quick reversal, anchor drop test and combat system detect-to-engage sequence.
Following delivery and commissioning, Kansas City will be homeported in San Diego with sister ships USS Independence (LCS-2), USS Coronado (LCS-4), USS Jackson (LCS-6), USS Montgomery (LCS-8), USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10), USS Omaha (LCS-12), USS Manchester (LCS-14), USS Tulsa (LCS-16), USS Charleston (LCS-18) and USS Cincinnati (LCS-20).
Four additional Independence-variant ships are under construction at Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. Final assembly is well underway on the future USS Oakland (LCS-24). All modules for the future USS Mobile (LCS-26) have been erected, and the modules for the future USS Savannah (LCS 28) are under construction. Additionally, Austal is fabricating modules for the future USS Canberra (LCS-30) and is preparing for construction of the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32), USS Augusta (LCS-34), USS Kingsville (LCS-36) and USS Pierre (LCS-38).
LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions. The Independence-variant LCS integrates new technology and capability to affordably support current and future mission capability, from deep water to the littorals.
LCS is now the second-largest surface ship class in production. Five LCSs delivered in 2018. The U.S. Navy plans to deliver another three ships in 2019.
The Independence Variant of the LCS Class
| PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS | |
| Construction | Hull and superstructure – aluminium alloy |
| Length overall | 421 feet/128.3 m |
| Beam overall | 103 feet/31.4 m |
| Hull draft (maximum) | 14.8 feet/4.5 m |
| PAYLOAD AND CAPACITIES | |
| Complement | Core Crew – 40 |
| Mission crew – 36 | |
| Berthing | 76 in a mix of single, double & quad berthing compartments |
| Maximum mission load | 210 tonnes |
| Mission Bay Volume | 118,403 feet3/11,000 m3 |
| Mission packages | Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) |
| Surface Warfare (SUW) | |
| Mine Warfare (MIW) | |
| PROPULSION | |
| Main engines | 2 × GE LM2500 |
| 2 × MTU 20V 8000 | |
| Waterjets | 4 × Wartsila steerable |
| Bow thruster | Retractable azimuthing |
| PERFORMANCE | |
| Speed | 40 knots/46 mph/74 km/h |
| Range | 3,500 NM/4,028 miles/6,482 km |
| Operational limitation | Survival in Sea State 8 |
| MISSION/LOGISTICS DECK | |
| Deck area | >21,527.8 feet2/2,000 m2 |
| Launch and recovery | Twin boom extending crane |
| Loading | Side ramp |
| Internal elevator to hanger | |
| Launch/Recover Watercraft | Sea State 4 |
| FLIGHT DECK AND HANGER | |
| Flight deck dimensions | 2 × SH-60 or 1 × CH-53 or multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Vertical Take-off and Land Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs/VTUAVs) |
| Hanger | Aircraft stowage & maintenance for 2 × SH-60 |
| Launch/Recover Aircraft | Sea State 5 |
| WEAPONS AND SENSORS | |
| Standard | 1 × 57-mm gun |
| 4 × 12.7-mm/.50 caliber guns | |
| 1 × Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) launcher | |
| 3 × weapons modules | |
Independence-class
| Ship | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| USS Independence (LCS-2) | 01-19-2006 | 04-26-2008 | 01-16-2010 | San Diego, California |
| USS Coronado (LCS-4) | 12-17-2009 | 01-14-2012 | 04-05-2014 | San Diego, California |
| USS Jackson (LCS-6) | 08-01-2011 | 12-14-2013 | 12-05-2015 | San Diego, California |
| USS Montgomery (LCS-8) | 06-25-2013 | 08-06-2014 | 09-10-2016 | San Diego, California |
| USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) | 04-16-2014 | 02-25-2015 | 06-10-2017 | San Diego, California |
| USS Omaha (LCS-12) | 02-18-2015 | 11-20-2015 | 02-03-2018 | San Diego, California |
| USS Manchester (LCS-14) | 06-29-2015 | 05-12-2016 | 05-26-2018 | San Diego, California |
| USS Tulsa (LCS-16) | 01-11-2016 | 03-16-2017 | 02-16-2019 | San Diego, California |
| USS Charleston (LCS-18) | 06-28-2016 | 09-14-2017 | 03-02-2019 | San Diego, California |
| USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) | 04-10-2017 | 05-22-2018 | 10-05-2019 | San Diego, California |
| USS Kansas City (LCS-22) | 11-15-2017 | 10-19-2018 | San Diego, California | |
| USS Oakland (LCS-24) | 07-20-2018 | 07-21-2019 | San Diego, California | |
| USS Mobile (LCS-26) | 12-14-2018 | |||
| USS Savannah (LCS-28) | 09-20-2018 | |||
| USS Canberra (LCS-30) | ||||
| USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32) | ||||
| USS Augusta (LCS-34) | ||||
| USS Kingsville (LCS-36) | ||||
| USS Pierre (LCS-38) |