(Washington, D.C.) The Navy is continuing to massively fast-track production for its growing fleet of Independence variant Littoral Combat Ships, while also continuing to upgun the ships with cutting-edge, long-range precision weaponry .. perhaps in a deliberate and visible effort to counter, outgun and out-range the large and growing fleet of Russian Corvettes.
The Navy christened its LCS 30, an Independence variant of the ship built by Austal USA, the future USS Canberra, shortly after LCS 28 completed acceptance trials. The acceptance trials for its LCS 28 in the Gulf of Mexico included a series of combat-preparation steps which includes testing the ship’s propulsion, electrical systems, maneuverability and “combat system detect-to-engage sequence,” according to a Navy report.
As it maintains a high-tempo of production for its Independence variants of the LCS, the service continues to upgrade and fire off improved variants of its Naval Strike Missile, an over-the-horizon offensive weapon able to deck-mount and fire from the ship, without needing to rely upon a Vertical Launch System tube.
U.S. Navy & Raytheon Battle Test LCS
As part of these warfare preparations aimed at continuously ensuring the LCS is engineered with the best offensive weapons, the U.S. Navy and Raytheon have been test firing upgraded variants of the NSM, to refine its ability to track and destroy moving targets from long ranges.
“In November of last year, we fired the NSM warhead and we prosecuted moving maritime targets. We recently did very similar tests with the Navy and LCS,” Randy Kempton, Tomahawk Program Director, told Warrior in an interview. “As threats evolve we are looking to ensure that the capabilities we provide to the warfighters keep up with the threat.”
This is quite significant for the LCS which is, by design, intended to reach high-risk areas closer to enemy shores due to its shallow draft. It is able to reach and operate in areas less accessible to deeper draft large warships, so arming it with a long-range over-the-horizon missile, particularly when precision-guided and able to hit moving targets, could give LCS commanders a tactical edge in littoral areas where it might need to destroy inland or ocean targets from safer standoff ranges before the ship itself enters the range of enemy fire.
Naval Strike Missile (NSM)
The NSM maturation is all part of the Navy’s ongoing surge to arm its surface fleet with upgunned mine-hunting, submarine-attacking Littoral Combat Ships armed with guns, drones, mini-sub-hunting undersea drones and missile, something which continues to quitely surge along beneath the radar of a large variety of pressing Navy topics at the moment.
