'INDEPENDENCE' (LCS 2) , A new Us WarShip

USA has successfully launched its landmark 127-metre Littoral Combat Ship ‘Independence’ (LCS 2).Since its keel-laying in January 2006, ‘Independence’ has steadily progressed within Austal USA’s purpose built construction facility in Mobile, Alabama toward becoming a formidable warship.It will get commision in USN in 2009.

The LCS indeed is a new kind of USN warship. She is high speed (40 knots-plus; we have seen numbers up to 60 knots) and very maneuverable. She is said to be able to turn 360 degrees in less than eight boat lengths at sprint speed.

Arguably, her most important feature is that she is a modular ship. That means she can be reconfigured to carry a variety of combat packages targeted for specific missions. She will be able to interdict ships on the high seas, conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and provide anti-terrorism force protection, including employment of special operations forces. She will support launching and recovering small boats for use by such special forces. She can carry two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The LCS carries the nomenclature "littoral" for a reason. Littoral means the ship will operate close to shorelines, which means she can operate where larger warships cannot. She can more easily support insertion and extraction of small numbers of specialized combat forces.

She will also carry an entirely new class of missiles, called the non-line-of-sight attack missiles, which are still in development and testing.The system envisions having two kinds of missiles, both precision attack. The Loitering Attack Missile LAM is an expendable, hunter-killer that can loiter, search out a target over a large area, and attack a target using its automatic target recognition system. The Precision Attack Missile PAM is a direct attack missile. LAM will be used for fleeting targets, while PAM for fixed and stationary targets.

LCS-1 is powered by two Fairbanks Morse Colt-Pielstick 16PA6B STC diesel powerplants and two Rolls Royce MT30 gas turbines driving four Rolls Royce waterjets. She will be interconnected to many other naval elements, satellites, airborne vehicles and command centers.