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USS Charleston (LCS 18) is underway for acceptance trials, which are the last significant milestone before delivery of the ship to the Navy. 18 July 2018. (U.S. Navy photo)
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The Independence class is a class of littoral combat ships built by Austal USA for the United States Navy.
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USS Charleston (LCS 18) is underway for acceptance trials, which are the last significant milestone before delivery of the ship to the Navy. 18 July 2018. (U.S. Navy photo)
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The hull design evolved from a project at Austal to design a high speed, 40 knot cruise ship. That hull design evolved into the high-speed trimaran ferry HSC Benchijigua Express and the Independence class was then proposed by General Dynamics and Austal as a contender for Navy plans to build a fleet of small, multipurpose warships to operate in the littoral zone.
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USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) transits the Philippine Sea during Exercise Pacific Griffin 2019 on 1 October 2019. (U.S. Navy photo)
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The first ship, Independence was laid down at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, on 19 January 2006.
The planned second ship was cancelled in November 2007, but reordered in May 2009, and laid down in December of that year as Coronado, shortly before Independence was launched.
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USS Independence (LCS 2) is pier side during a port visit to Key West, Fla. 31 March 2010. (U.S. Navy photo)
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The development and construction of Independence as of June 2009 was running at more than 3 times budget. The total projected cost for the ship is $704 million. The Navy had originally projected the cost at $220 million.
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USS Independence (LCS 2) approaches Mayport, Fla. Independence is in the Atlantic Ocean on her maiden underway. 2 April 2010. (U.S. Navy photo)
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The Independence-class design began life at Austal as a platform for a high-speed cruise ship. The principal requirements of that project were speed, stability and passenger comfort, and Austal's team determined that the trimaran hull form offered significant passenger comfort and stability advantages over both a catamaran and a monohull.
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USS Independence (LCS-2) arrives at Mole Pier at Naval Air Station Key West, Florida (USA), on 29 March 2010. (U.S. Navy photo)
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The ships are 127.4 m (418 ft) long, with a beam of 31.6 m (104 ft), and a draft of 13 ft (3.96 m). Their displacement is rated at 2,176 tons light, 2,784 tons full, and 608 tons deadweight.
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USS Coronado (LCS-4) launches the first over-the-horizon missile engagement using a RGM-84 Harpoon Block 1C missile. 19 July 2016. (U.S. Navy photo)
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The standard ship's company is 40, although this can increase depending on the ship's role with mission-specific personnel. The habitability area with bunks is located under the bridge. The helm is controlled by joysticks instead of traditional steering wheels.
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USS Independence (LCS 2) demonstrates its maneuvering capabilities in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. 18 July 2013. (U.S. Navy photo)
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Although the trimaran hull increases the total surface area, it is still able to reach sustainable speeds of about 50 knots (93 km/h; 58 mph), with a range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi).
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USS Independence (LCS-2), left, USS Manchester (LCS-14), and USS Tulsa (LCS-16) underway in formation in the eastern Pacific on 27 February 2019. (U.S. Navy photo)
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The Independence-class carries a default armament for self-defense, and command and control. Unlike traditional fighting ships with fixed armament such as guns and missiles, tailored mission modules can be configured for one mission package at a time.
Modules may consist of manned aircraft, unmanned vehicles, off-board sensors, or mission-manning detachments.
The interior volume and payload is greater than some destroyers and is sufficient to serve as a high-speed transport and maneuver platform.
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USS Independence (LCS-2), back, and USS Coronado (LCS-4) underway in the Pacific Ocean. 23 April 2014. (U.S. Navy photo)
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The Raytheon SeaRAM missile defense system is installed on the hangar roof. The SeaRAM combines the sensors of the Phalanx 1B close-in weapon system with an 11-missile launcher for the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile, creating an autonomous system.
The Independence-class ships also have an integrated LOS Mast, Sea Giraffe 3D Radar and SeaStar Safire FLIR. Northrop Grumman has demonstrated sensor fusion of on and off-board systems in the Integrated Combat Management System (ICMS) used on the LCS.
The vessels have an Interior Communications Center that can be curtained off from the rest of bridge instead of the heavily protected Combat Information Center found on other Navy warships.
The flight deck, 1,030 m2 (11,100 sq ft), can support the operation of two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, or one CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter. H-60 series helicopters provide airlift, rescue, anti-submarine, radar picket and anti-ship capabilities with torpedoes and missiles.
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USS Independence (LCS 2) operates in the waters off Southern California. 2 May 2012. (U.S. Navy photo)
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General characteristics
Type: Littoral combat ship
Displacement: 2,307 metric tons light, 3,104 metric tons full, 797 metric tons deadweight
Length: 418 ft (127 m)
Beam: 104 ft (32 m)
Draft: 14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion:
- 2 x General Electric LM2500 gas turbines
- 2 × MTU Friedrichshafen 20V 8000 Series diesel engines
- 2 x American VULKAN light weight multiple-section carbon fiber propulsion shaftlines
- 2 x LJ160E &
- 2 x LJ150E Wärtsilä waterjets, retractable bow-mounted azimuth thruster
- 4 × diesel generators
Range: 4,300 nautical miles (7,964 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Capacity: 210 metric tons
Complement: 40 core crew (8 officers, 32 enlisted) plus up to 35 mission crew
Sensors and processing systems:
- SAAB AN/SPS-77(V)1 Sea GIRAFFE 3D air and surface search radar
- Sperry Marine BridgeMaster E navigational radar
- AN/KAX-2 electro-optical sensor with TV and FLIR
- Northrop Grumman ICMS (Integrated Combat Management System)
- ITT Corporation ES-3601 ESM system
- 4 × SRBOC decoy launchers for chaff and infrared decoys
- BAE Systems NULKA active radar decoy system
- 1 × BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun
- 1 × Raytheon SeaRAM CIWS
- 4 × .50-cal guns (2 aft, 2 forward)
- 2 × 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II guns (part of SUW module)
- 24 × AGM-114L Hellfire missiles (planned part of SUW module)
- Other weapons as part of mission modules
- 1 × MH-60R/S Seahawk
- 2 × MQ-8B Fire Scouts or 1 × MQ-8C Fire Scout
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