“We are pleased to receive the future USS Detroit into the LCS class”, Buller said.
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The warship was delivered to the U.S. Navy on Friday, said officials with Lockheed Martin, builders of the ship. The LCS Freedom-class is one of the U.S. Navy’s main shipbuilding programs and relates to a new generation of mid-sized multirole vessels, designed for surveillance activities and coastal defense for deep water operations as well as capabilities for addressing asymmetrical threats such as mines, silent diesel submarines and fast surface ships.
The ship is scheduled to be commissioned into service in late October and is the fourth Freedom variant LCS from the company.
Six Freedom-variant LCS are in construction at Fincantieri and three others are in long-lead material procurement, Lockheed said.
Joe North, vice president and general manager for littoral ships and systems at Lockheed, said USS Detroit will work to support USA efforts to deter and combat threats.
Austal was awarded a $3.5bn contract by the US Navy to build and deliver an additional ten LCS, which will join Independence (LCS 2) commissioned in January 2010.
“This analysis, along with the recent successful completion of Full Ship Shock Trials, will serve to support future survivability assessments of the Independence variant”. According to the manufacturer, ships in its class cost about $360 million.
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“Detroit will be the sixth ship in the U.S. Navy honored to carry the name of this great American city, and will soon be joining her sister littoral combat ships operating with the fleet in critical missions around the globe”.
