Austal USA has delivered the future USS Savannah,
the 14th Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), to the U.S. Navy on June 25.
Austal USA Interim President Rusty Murdaugh said,
“Delivering yet another quality ship on time and on budget demonstrates the important role Austal
USA plays in the shipbuilding industrial base and value of Austal USA’s highly skilled workforce.
Delivering two major ship programs on schedule and on budget is something our team is incredibly
proud of. It has been especially rewarding to hear the very positive feedback from the
Navy commanders and Sailors on how well these ships are performing operationally,
especially in the in the South China Sea where they are conducting routine patrols.”
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why USS Savannah (LCS 28) Littoral Combat Ship
will be an excellent asset for U.S Navy? Let's get started.
The littoral combat ship (LCS) is a set of two classes the Independence and Freedom.
Construction of the Freedom-class is spearheaded by Lockheed Martin
at Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin, while that of Independence-class
ships is led by Austal USA in Alabama. These are relatively small surface vessels and are
primarily designed for operations near shore though they can undertake open-ocean operations.
During the late 1990s, the U.S. Navy understood that cruisers and destroyers would be vulnerable
to attacks in shallow coastal waters. The idea behind the littoral combat ship,
as described by former Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England, is to “create a small, fast,
maneuverable and relatively inexpensive member of the DD(X) family of ships.” If required these
ships will absorb an attack and protect the much more expensive cruiser or destroyers.
The LCS is envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable
of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in coastal waters. Interestingly, the LCS has a
modular design. The vessels can be configured with different modules for specific roles that include
anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance, homeland defense, maritime intercept, special operations, and logistics.
In the long run, the LCSs are expected to
progressively replace slower and specialized ships such as minesweepers and amphibious assault ships.
USS Savannah has a length of 127 m (418 ft ) and a displacement of 3,104 tonnes when fully loaded.
The warship has an integrated LOS Mast, Sea Giraffe 3D Radar and SeaStar Safire FLIR.
The interior volume and payload are greater than some destroyers
and are sufficient to serve as a high-speed transport and maneuver platform. The mission bay
is 15,200 square feet (1,410 m2) and takes up most of the deck below the hangar and flight deck.
With 11,000 cubic meters of payload volume,
it was designed with enough payload and volume to carry out one mission with a separate mission
module in reserve, allowing the ship to do multiple missions without having to be refitted.
The ship uses two gas turbines and two diesel engines to power four steerable waterjets.
USS Savannah has speed of 40 kn + (46 mph; 74 km/h) and has a range of 4,300 nmi
(8,000 km; 4,900 mi) It will accommodate
40 core crew plus up to 35 mission crew. USS Savannah can carry up to two Fire Scouts.
The Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout is an unmanned autonomous helicopter developed by
Northrop Grumman and is designed to provide reconnaissance, situational awareness,
aerial fire support and precision targeting support for ground, air and sea forces.
Fire Scout's surveillance and targeting capability is expected to further enhance the LCS’s lethality
USS Savannah will be armed with a variety of the weapons
One BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun One Raytheon SeaRAM CIWS (Close-In Weapon System)
Four .50-cal guns (2 aft, 2 forward)
Two 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II guns (part of SUW module)
24 AGM-114L Hellfire missiles (planned part of SUW module) or 8 NSMs in deck-mounted canisters.
Naval Strike Missiles or NSM will be the most powerful weapon of the USS Savannah
which gives it robust firepower and the ability to take on much larger opponents.
It is the upgrade of Kongsberg’s Penguin short-to-medium range anti-ship guided missile.
The missile has a range of 100 miles or 185 km. NSM is capable of high subsonic speeds.
It has sea skim mode by which it travels very close to the surface,
making it hard to detect and intercept. It is also designed to maneuver to avoid enemy defenses.
It is equipped with 276 pounds or 125 kg multi-purpose blast/fragmentation warhead.
NSM features an imaging IR-seeker which is complimented by inertial/GPS navigation.
The missile also has a built-in database of representative ship types
to distinguish between intended targets and other objects.
Importantly it can be used as an anti-ship missile for taking out land targets.
NSM is expected to be placed on the decks of LCSs through a proprietary canister launcher.
US Navy has more than 10 supercarriers,
68 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, 22 Ticonderoga-class cruisers as well as
several other surface combatants like Wasp-class amphibious assault ships.
The powerful warships have made the American Navy’s surface fleet to be the most formidable one
The inclusion of USS Savanna will help the U.S Navy operate in constrained places.
An apt example will be the Strait of Hormuz.
At its narrowest, the strait has a width of only 21 nautical miles or 39 km.
Because of its narrow width, many analysts think that it can be easily secured
and Iran will be able to inflict massive damage
on a force consisting of large warships as those will find it difficult to maneuver.
The relatively smaller but very agile LCS like USS Savannah
will be much better suited for these kinds of situations.