Things are heating up for the U.S. Navy’s first Littoral Combat Ship, after a long frozen winter in a Wisconsin shipyard.
The 377-foot Freedom is expected to head for open water once the ice melts. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin had hoped to set sail before the winter freeze, but ended up needing a few extra months for further development.
This week, the company announced a new testing milestone, as the new warship’s electric plant fired up for the first time. The so-called “light off” of four diesel generators and a three-megawatt electrical power plant involved putting the entire system through its paces, at full power.
“This marks a significant milestone for Freedom as her electric plant is completely functional and able to support all tests, evaluations and operations at sea,” Lockheed Martin said at this week’s Navy League conference.
Freedom will be delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2008 and will be homeported in San Diego. The new ships are intended to hunt mines, submarines and small boats in coastal waters. In addition to the Lockheed Martin design, the Navy also is buying a separate LCS design from General Dynamics. Both prime contractors are working with small U.S. shipyards to build the new ships, which are a lot smaller than the Navy’s traditional carriers, cruisers and destroyers.
– Rebecca Christie
diesel generators.….sigh god were suffering a fuel shortage but still use diesel
pebble bed reactors folks
Hey, it’s only government money…Right? (grimace)
I have to agree with James… Why couldn’t they have just used Nuclear?! 8|
question?
does anybody have any picture of the General Dynamics LCS, I’m talking real picture, not an artist rendering.
I like the look of the ship, and would like to see it, since it should be pretty much completely built by now.
For James and Camp -
The LCS does not use nuclear power for a number of reasons, but the biggie is that it’s intended to be dirt cheap. A nuke plant isn’t cheap. Also recall that this thing, in either manufacturing team’s design, is pretty damn small. A nuke powers a steam turbine, so you’re talking about a significant size/weight penalty for vessels under light cruiser size (using the old nomenclature.) As for PBMRs, well, that’s some darned new-fangled technology you got yerself there, youngin’. Thus far, few have been built, and no one’s using them in mobile or seagoing environments yet. That’s not a recipe you want involved in the one of the most numerous surface combatant ship classes (planned) for the next thirty years. Lastly, not everyone really wants a nuclear reactor in their territory. Fewer want them in their fisheries and ports. For a littoral craft, that means suddenly loosing allies’ good graces every time you deploy. And it’s a small ship, so even if you don’t need fuel, you need food for crew, and that’s space you’re missing.
ah thanks man hmmm what are the factors for the lack of PBR in ships?
though i also just realized the fact that its probbly got the tin hulls like the other ships in the fleet and its operating so close to shore
and another if its supposed to be cheap why the uber price tag?
and has anyone thought about converting some old crusiers or such to pocket carriers?…maybe come up with one? with the JSF or whateer and herrier not to mention the cobras and black hawk UAV damn could be crazy as hell
hehehe one more realy think we should just build reactor only ships from crusiers up
one thing that gets me still is the trust in stealth seems our maginot line
http://peoships.crane.navy.mil/lcs/images/060923-O-0000X-002.jpg
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/14324.jpg
http://www.lmlcsteam.com/photo_gallery/construct_progress/index.html
If these are small ships for coastal interdiction, why not team up with the Coast Guard.
I think I remember reading that this almost happened, but they had “differing needs”. Sounds more like people cannot play well together.
However, even though the technology is new, the robot boats I have seen developed would be an excellent replacement for these small ships.
No crew, no berthing areas, no heating/air conditioning for the berthing areas, no survival equipment (life rafts).… the list can go on and on.….
This would half the size of the ship.
If you are skeptical about a robot ship, I guess and “automated ship” is also possible. With just a skeleton crew for repair and command. It still would be significantly smaller and potentially cheaper (in the long run due to personnel cost, not to build)
Dennis wrote:
“No crew, no berthing areas, no heating/air conditioning for the berthing areas, no survival equipment (life rafts).… the list can go on and on.….
This would half the size of the ship.
If you are skeptical about a robot ship, I guess and “automated ship” is also possible. With just a skeleton crew for repair and command. It still would be significantly smaller and potentially cheaper (in the long run due to personnel cost, not to build)“
Remember that in combat *most* of the crew will be keeping the ship afloat once someone puts holes in it.
Your suggestion would be precisely the best policy for one of 2 situations a.)The ships are built, and the not used in warfare for all of their expected lifetime, so no one puts holes in them, and they don’t have to be patched by humans to save the ship, and they don’t sink, and don’t have to be replaced. b.) They are sent into an ongoing long-term intense littoral war where the bad guys are sinking them. That means we try to mass produce them with already set up production facilities, lowering their capital cost, so that replacing them is less costly than ships having crews to patch them once someone puts holes in them.
In any other (far more probable) future, the ships that sink without humans to repair them in one littoral conflict will be unavailable for the next one, a few years later, because production facilities are not ramped up to truly mass produce them. When each conflict has our enemies start sinking ships, there will be costs to ramp up production facilities, then immediately after the guns stop firing, those will be cut short to save money in peacetime. Then, when the next conflict starts we will spend the money to ramp up again, .…
This is an exacerbation of already existing problems in cycles of procurement and cost that will not be solved without self-repairing ships, on a level of action that is nowhere near being properly conceived of, much less budgeted, much less engineered, much less in production.
In as little as 15 years this may change substantially. *Today*, I doubt anyone can lay out lower lifetime costs for thoroughly roboticized ships above about 50–100 tons that have any hope of being in sight of real costs.
Regards,
Tom Billings
just read somethin about army heavy lift needs.i heard a lond time agao about a idea to build a ship like a mile lond that could have every plane practicly in us inventory(minus globmaster and b52 of course) land we already landed a c130 i think it was like supposed to be mad of oil rig tops what ever there called could make somethin like that?
Tom wrote: “*Today*, I doubt anyone can lay out lower lifetime costs for thoroughly roboticized ships above about 50–100 tons that have any hope of being in sight of real costs.“
Don’t be so pessimistic. I have seen 50–100+ tonne roboticised boats in the making and that with realistic service life costs. Try 5 years.
I suppose if the USCG is failing miserably with its own plan to build a blue water ship, the USN should fold the USCG into USN and take over all those duties. There are certainly enough ships (especially in reserve) to do the job and train reserve sailors.
Nothing wrong with the USN having a littoral ship/fleet, as long as the resources are allocated.