The U.S. Navy commissioned Littoral Combat Ship USS Billings (LCS 15) in Key West, Florida on August 3 2019. The ship, built by a Lockheed Martin-led team, is now in active service in the U.S. Navy fleet.
The U.S. Navy test fired a Longbow Hellfire missile from an Independence-class LCS Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM) for the first time on June 11 2019.
The future USS Oakland (LCS 24) was launched July 21 at Austal USA's shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. This event marked the first time the ship floated in the water as it is prepared for delivery to the US Navy next year.
The Lockheed Martin-led shipbuilding team launched Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 21, the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul into the Menominee River at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine Shipyard. Ship sponsor Jodi J. Greene, Deputy Under Secretary of the U.S. Navy for Policy, christened LCS 21 just prior to launch.
The U.S. Navy held a keel laying and authentication ceremony for the future littoral combat ship USS Marinette (LCS 25) in Marinette, Wisconsin March 27. The keel laying symbolically recognizes the joining of the ship's components and the ceremonial beginning of the ship.
At the SNA 2019 symposium held in mid-January, Lockheed Martin unveiled a scale model dubbed "LCS with Lethality and Survivability Upgrades"
Here is NavalNews.com's first monthly report (February 2019). Naval News Monthly Reports are video round ups of the most read naval defense news articles we published in the past month.
The littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS 18) was commissioned into the U.S. Navy during a ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina, March 2. USS Charleston is the 16th littoral combat ship to enter the U.S. Navy fleet and the 9th of the Austal-built Independence-class.
Construction on the future USS Canberra (LCS 30) began on Feb. 22 in Austal USA's module manufacturing facility. Dave Growden, native Australian, LCS Program Director and a 30-year member of Austal USA's team, had the honor of pushing the button to start the router that cut the first piece of aluminum, signalling start of construction for the 15th Independence-variant littoral combat ship.
The littoral combat ship USS Tulsa (LCS 16) was commissioned into the U.S. Navy during a ceremony in San Francisco Feb. 16. USS Tulsa is the 15th littoral combat ship and the eighth of the Austal-built Independence-class.
