Talk:Littoral combat ship
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[edit] The Ship's Captain?
Will this ship be commanded by a Commander (O-5) or a Lt Commander (O-4)? The crew (less than 50) seems kinda small for a full Commander to command. Jigen III 04:24, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
- I noticed the Avenger class of mine warfare ships has a crew of 80, and is commanded by Lt Commanders. So if they go by crew size, the LCS may be commanded by O-4s. Jigen III 14:23, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] LCS v Destroyer v Frigate
Henry... In general, that's a very fine characterization except that I'd also add the missions (like anti-mine warfare) that LCS will be uniquely suited to. RE: size, it isn't that much smaller than a frigate - in fact, at about 120-130 meters, the LCS is roughly the size of Britain's Type 23 frigates that represent the backbone of the Royal Navy. In layman's terms it's the size of a football field WITH the end zones, and significantly larger than Sweden's 72m Visby Class littoral warfare corvette.
I'll add that the DDG 51 Arleigh Burke Class destroyers will remain the backbone of the US Navy for a long, long time to come. Many will serve well into the 2030s and even 2040s. Their AEGIS systems, SM-2 or SM-3 missiles, and Co-operative Engagement Capability give them an anti-air punch that can't be beat, and their ability to launch large numbers of Tomahawk cruise missiles adds a ground attack capability that's pretty much unique among surface combatants out there today. Additional future upgrades to both systems are certainties. I could wish for anti-ship missile improvements over the Harpoon that would match the Russian Sunburns, and if they build that I'm sure retrofits will be possible.
The Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates, on the other hand, have already seen many retirements and will probably be around for only about another decade. It's probably fair the characterize the LCS as replacing them over the long term - unlike the Europeans, the USA has decided that it doesn't really need frigate-type ships that are really just pocket destroyers. It wants the real thing, or it wants something with unique advantages.
Final note: LCS ships won't just be advance scouts ahead of carrier battle groups - often, they'll work with Expeditionary Strike Groups or international task forces, and it's highly likely that Arleigh Burke Class desroyers will be their most important "big brother backup" providing that extra air-defense, anti-ship, and even land attack punch (for Expeditionary forces, the LHA/LHD ships with Harriers or Joint Strike Fighters will also be big).
-- Awk!
"The LCS will be a variation of the destroyer (DD and DDG types) designed to replace the fleet of frigates currently in use by the Navy, which are slowly being retired from the fleet."
This is way off.
How about instead going with this.
"The LCS is the first class in the Navy's plans for a transformational series of next generation surface combatants. The LCS is smaller than the Frigates currently used by the Navy and sacrifices air defense and a anti-ship gun in exchange for speed, mission module space and a shallow draft that allows this class to operate close to shore in the littorals."
The one person who is most to blame for the LCS isn't mentioned on your page, so please add a note that it is "Limited to (admiral) Clark's term of Service".
-- Henry J. Cobb http://www.io.com/~hcobb/
[edit] LCS v corvette
Hmm... would this be the USN's new series of corvettes? Lacking in some offensive features as they are...
[edit] Austal?
What's the story with the Austal proposal?
- 72.255.49.1 17:57, 26 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Littoral?
What does "littoral" mean, or where does it come from? 70.20.233.232 05:52, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Ship class
As far as I can determine, the "littoral combat ship" program is pretty much identical to the program to build one particular class. Should this article incorporate the (as yet unwritten) Freedom class littoral combat ship article? Shimgray | talk | 12:40, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
- No, the program is more complicated than that. It involves building four examples of two types of ships, the Freedom class and the Independence class, finding which is better and then maybe building a bunch of ships of one type. The Freedom class littoral combat ship article should remain seperate, when it is written. And I really don't see a pressing need to write one at the moment, given the lack of information. But I will add a similar link for the Independence class just to make the distinction clearer. Spejic 15:40, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
