Needle Nose Ship – The new LCS2

Here is a look at what will soon be one of the most interesting looking ships in the U.S. Navy’s fleet, the USS Independence (LCS 2).  The ship was recently underway for sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico.

Resembling some type of needle nosed tool, the ship is based on a trimaran design, proven with the largest aluminum hull ship ever built, the Benchijigua Express, built by Austal.

Delivery to the Navy is expected in September of 2009, and will come at a price.  The project is 100% over budget, at $704 million.  The original estimate was $220 million.

Here is the latest from the General Dynamics LCS project site:

For the past several weeks, the General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship Team, led by Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, has successfully demonstrated performance in several areas including tests of the propulsion system, communications, navigation and core mission systems of Independence (LCS 2) during at-sea Builder’s Trials in the Gulf of Mexico.  The ship’s performance thus far has demonstrated the excellent characteristics of the ship’s unique trimaran hull form as well as the performance and flexibility of its open architecture-based information systems backbone and core mission systems.  The ship is being constructed at Austal USA facilities in Mobile, Alabama.

Jeff Geiger, president of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, said, “We conduct Builder’s Trials to test and learn about a ship and to identify characteristics that must be adjusted or corrected before we present the ship to our Navy customer.  The first ship of a new class always presents unique challenges, and Independence is no different.  What we have demonstrated thus far leaves no doubt that Independence will be a highly capable, versatile and lethal platform for the U.S. Navy.  With all diesels, gas turbines and waterjets on line, we achieved 43 knots with the propulsion plant at less than full power.  The ship exhibited excellent maneuverability and stability, and we exercised our flexible open-architecture computing infrastructure and any-display, anywhere capability.

During the build-up to full power testing, we experienced a leak in the port gas turbine shaft seal which we’re now troubleshooting in order to determine the best course for corrective action.  We’ve determined that the best path forward is to resequence the remaining trial events while we continue other work necessary to ready the ship for Navy Acceptance Trials later this summer.  An additional underway period will be conducted before Acceptance Trials to validate the shaft seal solution and other production work.  The Navy supports this approach and we do not expect that this adjustment will affect the planned delivery of the ship later this year.”

Geiger continued, “Many people from Bath Iron Works, Austal USA, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems and the Navy have worked very hard to get us to this point and I’m very proud of what the men and women of the entire General Dynamics/Austal Littoral Combat Ship Team have accomplished.  Overall, I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made.  We have demonstrated that Independence will be a flexible and powerful platform for our Navy.”

Independence is one of two ship designs that will be evaluated by the U.S. Navy as part of its plan to build a total of 55 Littoral Combat Ships.  When delivered later this year, it will be the U.S. Navy’s first trimaran warship.  Independence (LCS 2) will be homeported in San Diego.

The Littoral Combat Ship is a major part of the Navy’s plan to address asymmetric threats of the 21st century.  Intended to operate in coastal areas, the ships will be fast, highly maneuverable and geared to supporting mine detection/elimination, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare, particularly against small surface craft.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works is the prime contractor for the General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship Team.  Partners include Austal USA (Mobile, AL); BAE Systems (Rockville, MD); General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (Fairfax, VA); L3 Communications Marine Systems (Leesburg, VA); Maritime Applied Physics Corporation (Baltimore, MD); and Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems (Baltimore, MD).