According to information released by the United States Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy will christen the future USS Marinette (LCS 25) as the newest Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) during a ceremony on Saturday, November 20, 2021, in Marinette, Wisconsin.
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The U.S. Navy Future USS Marinette Freedom-class LCS 25 was launched on October 31, 2020. (Picture source Lockheed Martin)
The USS Marinette (LCS-25) is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship built for the United States Navy. She is the 13th Freedom-variant LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) and 25th in the LCS class. It is the second ship named in honor of the city of Marinette, Wisconsin. American shipbuilding firm, Marinette Marine was awarded the contract to build the ship on 31 March 2016 at their shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin
The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom and the Independence, designed and built by two industry teams. Lockheed Martin leads the Freedom-variant team, or odd-numbered hulls, in Marinette, Wisconsin. Austal USA leads the Independence-variant team in Mobile, Alabama for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls.
According to a U.S. Congress Report, the U.S. Navy began procuring a small surface combatant called the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in FY2005, and a total of 35 LCSs have been procured through FY2019, including three in FY2019. Currently, nine Freedom-class LCS are in service with the U.S. Navy and four ships are under construction.
The Freedom-class LCS design is based on a semi-planning steel monohull with an aluminum superstructure. The design also incorporates a large, reconfigurable seaframe to allow rapidly interchangeable mission modules, a flight deck with an integrated helicopter launch, recovery and handling system, and the capability to launch and recover boats (manned and unmanned) from both the stern and side.
The Freedom-class LCS has a length of 115 m, a beam of 57.4 m, a draft of 12.8 m, and a displacement of 3,500 metric tons. The ship is powered by two Rolls-Royce MT30 36 MW gas turbines developing 48,000 hp, two Colt-Pielstick 16PA6B 6.8 MW diesel engines developing 9,100 hp, and four Rolls-Royce waterjets. She can reach a top speed of 47 knots (87 km/h).
The Freedom-class LCS is armed with one BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm naval gun with 400 rounds in the turret and two ready service magazines with 240 rounds each, one Mk 49 launcher with 21 RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Surface-to-Air Missiles, four .50 in (12.7 mm) heavy machine guns, two 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II automatic cannons, eight RGM-184A Naval Strike Missiles, 24 AGM-114L Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and one Lockheed Martin 150 kW High Energy Laser.
