The U.S. Navy commissioned the nation’s seventh Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) – USS Detroit (LCS-7) – on the Detroit River, officially placing the ship designed and constructed by a Lockheed Martin-led industry team into active service.

USS Detroit (LCS-7), the fourth Freedom-variant in the LCS class, completed acceptance trials in July and was delivered to the U.S. Navy on August 12. It joins three other Freedom-variant ships in the fleet: USS Freedom (LCS-1), USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) and USS Milwaukee (LCS-5). Collectively, Freedom-variant ships have sailed over 225,000 nautical miles/258,925 miles/416,700 km and successfully completed two overseas deployments.

«The entire Lockheed Martin-led LCS team is honored to have delivered USS Detroit and witness the ship being commissioned and brought to life in her namesake city». said Joe North, vice president of Littoral Ships and Systems. «For decades to come, USS Detroit will serve in the defense of our great nation, enabling the U.S. Navy to carry out its missions around the world and representing our nation where and when needed».

The Lockheed Martin-led industry team is currently in full-rate production of the Freedom-variant, with six ships under construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) and three more in long-lead material procurement. The ship’s modular design and affordable price enables the U.S. Navy to provide presence where and when needed at a fraction of the cost of other platforms.

USS Detroit (LCS-7) is the sixth U.S. Navy ship named USS Detroit. Previous ships to bear the name included a Sacramento-class fast combat support ship, an Omaha-class light cruiser, a Montgomery-class cruiser and two 19th century sloops of war.

The Lockheed Martin-led LCS team is comprised of shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine, naval architect Gibbs & Cox, and more than 500 suppliers in 37 states. The Freedom-variant’s steel monohull is based on a proven, survivable design recognized for its stability and reliability. With 40 percent reconfigurable shipboard space, the hull is ideally suited to accommodate additional lethality and survivability upgrades associated with the Freedom-variant Frigate.

 

Ship Design Specifications

Hull	Advanced semiplaning steel monohull
Length Overall	389 feet/118.6 m
Beam Overall	57 feet/17.5 m
Draft	13.5 feet/4.1 m
Full Load Displacement	Approximately 3,200 metric tons
Top Speed	Greater than 40 knots/46 mph/74 km/h
Range at top speed	1,000 NM/1,151 miles/1,852 km
Range at cruise speed	4,000 NM/4,603 miles/7,408 km
Watercraft Launch and Recovery	Up to Sea State 4
Aircraft Launch and Recovery	Up to Sea State 5
Propulsion	Combined diesel and gas turbine with steerable water jet propulsion
Power	85 MW/113,600 horsepower
Hangar Space	Two MH-60 Romeo Helicopters
	One MH-60 Romeo Helicopter and three Vertical Take-off and Land Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles (VTUAVs)
Core Crew	Less than 50
	Accommodations for 75 sailors provide higher sailor quality of life than current fleet
Integrated Bridge System	Fully digital nautical charts are interfaced to ship sensors to support safe ship operation
Core Self-Defense Suite	Includes 3D air search radar
	Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) gunfire control system
	Rolling-Airframe Missile Launching System
	57-mm Main Gun
	Mine, Torpedo Detection
	Decoy Launching System

 

Freedom-class

Ship	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Homeport
USS Freedom (LCS-1)	06-02-2005	09-23-2006	11-08-2008	San Diego, California
USS Fort Worth (LCS-3)	07-11-2009	12-07-2010	09-22-2012	San Diego, California
USS Milwaukee (LCS-5)	10-27-2011	12-18-2013	11-21-2015	San Diego, California
USS Detroit (LCS-7)	08-11-2012	10-18-2014	10-22-2016	San Diego, California
USS Little Rock (LCS-9)	06-27-2013	07-18-2015
USS Sioux City (LCS-11)	02-19-2014	01-30-2016
USS Wichita (LCS-13)	02-09-2015	09-17-2016
USS Billings (LCS-15)	11-02-2015
USS Indianapolis (LCS-17)	07-18-2016
USS St. Louis (LCS-19)
USS Minneapolis/St. Paul (LCS-21)
USS Cooperstown (LCS-23)
USS Marinette LCS-25

USS Detroit Crew Brings LCS-7 to Life