Lockheed Martin's Littoral Combat Ship

The newest naval vessel, under construction in a Northern Wisconsin shipyard, is to be a "Littoral Combat Ship", designed with these specifications in mind:

Lenght: 378 feet

Beam: 57 feet

Top Speed: 60 knots (top speed achieved in under 2 minutes)

Min Depth: 13 feet of water

It seems, as with any Lockheed project these days, that sharp angles are predominate... is this to be a stealthy, low profile ship as well?




Now, having just recently acquired an employment position within the company constructing this vessel, I am at a key position to see the construction, and to hear of any... to hear of anything happening concerning it. From what I do know so far is this:

When the contract was awarded, Secret Service, various governmental officials, and Naval Security all isolated the building in which it was to be built, and had a major "ground breaking" ceremony. No big deal. Orders were also given that any and all cameras, from cell phone type to film, were to be siezed and destroyed. Fine, no problem.

The problem that I have seen is that the bay doors are also wide open, facing a public access river. How do they, the powers that be, expect the construction to be secret, if anyone can drive past in their boat? How do they expect the ship to remain unseen until the final day, if the bay doors are wide open?

Here are a couple links for your viewing pleasure:

Lockheed News

MMC

Top speed 60 knots? I think you've made a mistake on typing that because the last time I checked, max speed was 40 knots in EXTREMELY CALM sea (sea state 3, any rain, winds, weather ruins the speed) and 60 knots can't be achieved by a conventional hull, Catamarans and ......... are the few which can achieve 60 knots in water.

[edit on 7-8-2005 by COWlan]

[edit on 7-8-2005 by COWlan]

That may be accurate. From the link in the intial post:

The Lockheed Martin ship’s design uses a semi-planing monohull to provide exceptionally high performance and maneuverability. The hullform is based on technologies introduced on the 60+ knot, 1,000 ton Destriero, which holds the trans-Atlantic speed record, and was scaled up and used to build a series of 3,000 ton Jupiter class ocean-going vessels. Both ships were designed and built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. From this real-world experience, the 2,800 metric ton LCS employs a steel hull and aluminum superstructure, allowing the vessel to reach a top speed approaching 60 knots depending on the ship’s configuration.

The speed quoted may be a best case scenario ie. light load, flat water, new props etc, but its still pretty damm fast for ship and could hit quickly.

But according to this www.globalsecurity.org... LCS can only achieve a SPRINT speed of 40 knots, sprint only. Correct me if I'm wrong because I didn't really follow the LCS program lately or ever.

Originally posted by COWlan
But according to this www.globalsecurity.org... LCS can only achieve a SPRINT speed of 40 knots, sprint only. Correct me if I'm wrong because I didn't really follow the LCS program lately or ever.

I do not rightly know one way or the other but LM seems to be quoting that speed on thier web site which makes you wonder if it is not even faster than the 60.

The GS site you quoted are meerly (it seems) the baseline specs that the DOD issues to give guidence to contractors. You will note that the 40 knots seems to be the minimum speed set forth in the specs and the improved variety is listed at 50. No doubt this could have moved up. Also interesting is the reduction in crew size from 50 core crew to 15. thats alot for a ship this size so alot of automation will be used. Also the ship only has provisions for 21 days. Mind you again these are prototypes / development models so the one that acutally hits the water may be abit differnet.

From the material I have read at work, the details of the speed is quoted at 40 knots, but (and this is a big BUT)...

The hull design is also supposed to be a "mono-hull hydroplane".



From what I have seen with hydroplaning boats, they usually have ski-type devices, which makes them skim atop the water... which is what makes them travel faster. Less drag.

But a mono-hull hydroplane?

The only way that that would sem to make sense is that, since a normal hydroplane has several key parts, that would make it a "multi-hull". If, by using the description word-for-word, and by not reading into anything, then that would mean that the LCS can achieve hydroplane type status by using only one hull component.

THAT could, in essence, make the speed 60 knots, right?



**EDIT** ...creating a hydroplane effect... is NOT a hydroplane, but creates a hydroplane effect

[edit on 7-8-2005 by soothsayer]